


Courage, Dear Heart

by changdori (janie6789), jumpstarts



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Wolves, Discrimination, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 15:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 127,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20677988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janie6789/pseuds/changdori, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpstarts/pseuds/jumpstarts
Summary: In a world where human and wolves co-exist, they must learn to navigate the deeply entrenched prejudices of a society in flux, as well as figuring out the strenuous balance that threatens to upend both of their lives. It's no easy feat, but giving up is never an option.After all, the locus of Changmin and Yunho's existence is, and will always be, each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *title is gently borrowed from c.s. lewis' _voyage of the dawn trader_. :)
> 
> basically a co-writing exercise that spiralled out of control. yunho's parts are written by janie (she also takes care of yunho's mum - mihyun) while i, kaara, am responsible for changmin (& yunho's dad - yanghyun). we share custody of other miscellaneous characters. 
> 
> also we muck around with the lore a lot. because we can. :D 
> 
> also also dialogue in wolf-speak is in _italics_. :DD
> 
> also also also their clothes? totally follow them in and out of shifting. less naked wolf people around. :DDD

.

Changmin was already in bed by the time two police officers pulled up to their driveway, lighting up the yard in red-and-blue until they killed the engine. His grandfather was the one who went to the door first, who had to hold up his grandmother when the officer informed them of the five-car pileup that had claimed the lives of their son and daughter-in-law.

_It_ _ was_ _ instantaneous_, the officer continued, as if that was any consolation. Her partner stood to the side, looking at anything and everything but the shell-shocked elderly couple in the doorway, clutching at each other.  _They didn't suffer._

The officers nodded in tandem, offered identical 'we're sorry for your loss' smiles and retreated once the bad news had been delivered. Like a murder of crows, scattering into the night. Changmin woke up much later to find his grandmother stroking his head, her eyes red and puffy, and his grandfather standing behind her with a grim expression on his tanned, wrinkled face. He's too young to understand grief, but he's smart for his age and when they told him his parents were not coming home, Changmin knew what they meant. 

He cried before the funeral. He cried during the funeral. He continued crying after, his voice already fading into hoarseness when he's introduced to Jung Yanghyun and his pretty wife. His grandparents held his hands as they told him that he's going to stay with his parents' best friends, who were practically family before they moved all the way to Gwangju. They came back to Seoul just for Changmin, because his grandparents were too old to take care of such a young pup and it would be better for him to grow up around someone his age.

“We have a son,” Jung Mihyun said. Her eyes were kind and she’s gentle when she wiped away the tears on Changmin’s cheeks. “His name is Yunho. I think you two will get along very well, Changmin-ah.”

Changmin finally meets Yunho the week after, still sniffling and trying so very hard not to cry as he stares at the door of a house that isn’t his. The flight hadn’t been easy, despite his grandparents’ reassurances that he would be fine. Yanghyun is still taking out Changmin’s bags from the back of the car when there are thunderous footsteps coming towards the door and before Changmin can hide himself, the door is flung open. A boy stands in front of him, dark-haired and dark-eyed and so much taller. They stare at each other until Changmin ducks his head, suddenly shy. His heart pounds inside his chest but it isn’t really fear that made him look away. It’s the faint sweet scent that comes from Yunho, that makes Changmin feel… different.  _Weird_. He can’t decide whether he likes it or not. 

“H-Hello, my name is Shim Changmin,” he says, just to break the uncomfortable silence lingering between them. “I’m your new brother.”

Yunho’s face breaks out into a wide smile as soon as he hears the confirmation. As much as he loves his younger sister so, so much, she is always more interested in nail polish and her dollhouse, unlike Yunho, who much prefers to play outside. He rushes towards Changmin, trying to contain his excitement. He doesn’t do too well, because before he knows it, he’s in his wolf form, white, fluffy tail wagging and jumping up to greet the younger boy. He’s running circles around Changmin when he hears his mother chuckle as she comes out of the house after him, “My goodness, Yunho. Where are your manners? At least introduce yourself properly first.”

It takes actual effort to bring himself back to human form, and when he does, he’s slightly out of breath after all of that excitement. “Sorry,” he says, and he can’t help himself from bringing his hands up and cupping the boy’s cheeks in his hands. “Nice to meet you! I’m Yunho. I’m so happy you’ve come --"

Yunho stops halfway as he realizes what he’s saying. “_Sorry_,” he says again. The smile falters. “I’m really sorry.”

It’s hard to speak when he’s trying to keep very, very still, when his heart had crawled somewhere up his throat at the first sight of Yunho’s wolf and now at their proximity. Yunho’s hands are warm against his skin and the sweet scent grows stronger, making him a bit lightheaded as he tries to figure out what he’s supposed to do in return. Changmin isn’t one for physical affection but at that moment, his first instinct had been to wrap his arms around Yunho and bury his nose in the patch of soft skin just underneath Yunho’s jaw. Maybe stay there until someone peels him off of the older boy. His brain, however, knows that he isn’t supposed to do that.

At least not yet. 

Changmin blinks, registers the crack in Yunho’s voice and it’s  _wrong._ It’s wrong and he has to fix it. 

“It’s okay,” he rushes to say, the words tripping over his tongue. Yunho is still holding his face, so it’s just fair that Changmin gets to hold him too. He raises his hands, slowly and carefully placing them over Yunho’s forearms. The wound of his parents’ deaths is still too raw and it’s not something he wants to talk about, feels too much like picking at a fresh scab. Changmin offers Yunho a tentative smile. “Are you— going to show me around?”

Yunho’s smile returns almost immediately. “Yeah, come in!” He lets go of Changmin’s face and holds Changmin’s hand instead, and starts dragging him inside the house. “We spent all of last week decorating your new room. Come!”

Changmin nearly stumbles when he’s dragged inside, still with his shoes on and he has to tighten his grip on Yunho’s hand to stop him. “Shoes! I shouldn’t—” And before he knows it, he’s laughing. Hunched over, still holding onto the hand of someone he’d just met not five minutes ago like a lifeline. It’s the first time he’d laughed since the funeral and his chest suddenly feels a lot lighter. “Can I take my shoes off first, hyung?”

_Hyung. _The word rolls off smoothly. Changmin grins. “Yunho-hyung.”

The smile is so very cute, especially the way his sparkly eyes seem to become mismatched when he smiles. Yunho feels his breath hitch, and he blushes slightly red, but nods and lets go of Changmin’s hand so that the younger can get his shoes off. The wait feels long - and maybe a bit awkward, and he so clears his throat and cranes his neck around the corner to yell, “_Jihye,__ aren’t you going to come out and say hi to Changmin?_”

_Jihye?_

Changmin places his shoes neatly to the side before his straightens, suddenly self-conscious when he sees a girl walking over towards them. She’s younger than Yunho, that much he can tell, and their facial features are almost similar in the way that makes it obvious she’s blood-related, from the same litter. A sister, then. Changmin watches her warily as she comes closer, much less enthused than her brother had been, and he’s thankful for that. He doesn’t think he wants another hug right now. 

“I’m Shim Changmin,” he says, forcing himself to smile. Yunho’s parents didn’t tell him that there’s going to be a sister, that he’s going to have to share Yunho with someone else. He almost winces when he realises how that might’ve sounded out loud. “Nice to meet you, Jihye.”

She returns his smile, politely. “Nice to meet you too. We’re the same age, right? So I can just call you ‘Changmin’?”

“Jihye,” chastises Yunho. “We talked about this. Changmin’s born in February, so he’s older.”

Jihye doesn’t look too pleased. “But—“

“Jihye…”

She rolls her eyes. “I have enough oppas already with just one.”

Yunho crosses his arms, and Jihye sighs.

“Fine. Oppa.”

It isn’t immediately clear who the ‘oppa’ is directed to, but Yunho’s reasonably satisfied. She shifts into her wolf, probably to avoid the conversation, but Yunho strokes her grey coat with gentle care as she brushes up against the side of Yunho’s leg on her way back upstairs.

Changmin doesn’t really care what Jihye calls him, to be honest, but warmth unspools inside his belly when he hears Yunho defending him from his own sister. He knows that he’s still a stranger to both of them, that he doesn’t belong to this pack yet despite what Yunho’s parents said when they talked to him about the adoption process. He’s young enough that he’ll fit right in, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Changmin reaches out and holds Yunho’s hand, twining their fingers together.

“Do I get my own room?”

_Is it close to yours,_ is what Changmin wants to ask, a tendril of unease slithering down his spine when he thinks about staying alone at night.  _Can’t we stay together?_

“Yeah, of course! I can’t wait to show you,” says Yunho obliviously, squeezing Changmin’s hand, and he leads the now-shoeless Changmin straight upstairs, not bothering to show him anything on the first floor. Changmin’s new room is much more important. Once they get upstairs, Yunho thrusts open the door, and cheerfully yells, “Ta-da!”

The first thing Changmin notices is that it’s bigger than his old room. Not by much, but the extra space seems to stretch further when he remembers that he’d be alone. There’s an empty bookcase pushed up against the wall, next to a study table, and since most of his things won’t be arriving until the next weekend, the room feels much too intimidating. Too different, from the familiar comfort of home. But Yunho’s looking at him expectantly and Changmin manages a small smile, taking a step inside.

And then sees the heap of toys on the bed. They’re colourful and in all shapes and sizes, just stacked all over the patterned bed sheet. Most of them look new, but some already have bite marks on them. Changmin reaches out for one and laughs when the giant bone squeaks. 

“Are these all mine?” he asks excitedly, already forgetting his earlier apprehension. The bone squeaks again when he squeezes it, and before he knows it, he’s already on all four and bounding towards Yunho with the bone clamped firmly between his teeth. He places it at Yunho’s feet, raising his front paws to rest on the older boy’s belly. “_Hyung!__ Can we play?”_

Honestly, that was exactly what Yunho had been waiting for; as soon as Changmin puts his paws down, Yunho joins him. Yunho's a lot bigger than Changmin, the size difference is even more prominent after they've turned — actually, it looks like Changmin's wolf is smaller than he should be at his age, but he's as cute as a button, with the  dark grey  coat being more fuzz than fur.

Yunho jumps up on the bed, and Changmin follows — and together, they jump into the mountain of toys, knocking at least half of it down onto the previously pristine floor.

Changmin looks properly excited, which is all that Yunho wanted for today, really. So with his snout, he keeps pushing the most interesting looking toys towards Changmin for him to chew on.

Being an only child means that Changmin didn’t get to roughhouse with others much, except for when his parents would bring him over for play dates with their friends’ pups. Even then, he was never as energetic as the others, but Yunho smells better than any other wolf he’d ever met and Changmin likes how Yunho looks at him. He paws at the toys, batting them away in favour of rubbing up against Yunho and his soft, snowy white fur. Changmin breathes in deeply and makes quiet, contented rumbling noises as he nuzzles the underside of Yunho’s jaw. 

“Look at you boys,” comes Yanghyun’s warm, amused voice from the general direction of the door. Changmin jolts in surprise, wheeling around to try and hide himself behind Yunho’s larger form. Out of embarrassment or guilt, he doesn’t quite know. Yanghyun walks in and puts Changmin’s bag at the foot of the bed, before he reaches out to pet Yunho’s head. “Help Changmin unpack, Yunho. And come down for dinner; Changmin must be starving after his trip.”

Yunho gets up from where he’d been lying, turns towards Changmin, and licks at some of the tangled bits of Changmin’s fur a few times before shifting back. He continues to pet Changmin with his hand after that (Changmin really is very cute, might even rival his sister).

“Okay, let’s unpack fast, because I think I can smell bulgogi,” says Yunho enthusiastically, sniffing with his nose in the air. “Umma makes the best bulgogi in the whole pack.”

Changmin allows Yunho to pet him for a while, likes how Yunho’s human fingers card through his coat, and once he’d shifted, he ends up slip-sliding around the toys still surrounding them to land with his two feet on the floor. At the mention of bulgogi, Changmin’s stomach rumbles and he remembers that the last thing he’d eaten was a sandwich on the flight. It’s also been a while since he last ate a home-cooked meal and his eyes water when he remembers helping his mother in the kitchen, although he bites his lip to force the tears back.  Before he left, his grandparents told him that he has to be strong, that there’s no place for the weak in this world.  Changmin rubs the back of a hand to his eyes and goes to sort out his bags.

Yunho doesn't help him unpack so much as digging out all Changmin's clothes at once and trying to shove them into the drawers, much to Changmin's horror. Even at a young age, he'd been trained to put his things away properly and he isn't sure if it works any differently in the Jung household. He winces at the state of the drawers when Yunho is done, but doesn’t protest when he’s (once again) being dragged downstairs. Yanghyun and his wife are already at the table, deep in a discussion about some pack matters, and Jihye rolls her eyes when Yunho insists that Changmin sits next to him. Dinner is delicious and they ask him questions in between bites — about his hobbies (reading), his favourite food (pizza) and if he’s excited to make new friends in his new school (he can’t answer this one). 

“I’ll talk to the principal and see if they can put you in the same class as Jihye,” Mihyun says, turning to address her daughter and Changmin at the same time. “She’ll look out for you. Isn’t that right, Jihye?”

She grumbles a bit, but it isn’t anything malicious and Changmin is more relieved to find that Yunho will be there as well, albeit a couple grades up. There’s dessert at the end of dinner (chocolate brownies, so rich that it sticks to Changmin’s teeth when he chews on them) and once they’ve helped Mihyun clean up, they head upstairs to change for bed. Changmin finds his pyjamas where they’re crumpled right underneath a pair of jeans, his toothbrush tangled together with some socks and he gives up on trying to fish it out. He’s too full and sleepy to do anything more than slide under the blankets, turning around until he finds a comfortable spot to curl in. Yunho’s parents pop in to wish him ‘_good_ _night_’, to tell him that they love him and this is his family now, no matter what happens. 

Mihyun kisses his forehead before they leave, Yanghyun’s hand around his wife’s slightly-shaking shoulder.

It should’ve been easy to fall asleep, considering how tired he is from travelling, but Changmin can’t. Not when the room feels too big, especially when he’d shifted and is curled up tightly under the blanket. After tossing and turning for what seems like hours, Changmin crawls out of bed and pads softly to the door. The hallway is dark outside but he knows where he’s going — the scent leads him to the door just next to his and he stands there for a few minutes, hesitating. 

“_Hyung_?” he calls out, quietly. The television is a low murmur downstairs and he doesn’t want to be caught sneaking out of bed when he shouldn’t. He gives the wood a tentative scratch, wincing when it sounds to loud to his ears. “_Hyung,__ a-are you awake?_”

Yunho startles awake. He isn’t sure what exactly woke him, but he pushes his blanket aside and swings his legs down the side of the bed, then he hears it again; another sound at his door. He’s a bit spooked, and he takes a step towards the door when he gets a whiff of the new, but familiar, smell, and relieved, he walks to the door and opens it. The small pup is looking up at him as soon as he does, and he circles around Yunho and rubs his cheek to Yunho’s ankle.

“Changmin?” he whispers, breathing out a sigh of relief. “You scared me, I thought you were a ghost!”

Changmin lets out a quiet whimper, and gasping, Yunho immediately squats down to pet him. “Changmin, what’s wrong?”

Yunho’s concern makes him feel warm all over, whisking away the cobwebs of unease inside his chest, and he butts his head into the hand petting him. He looks up at the older boy, eyes large and round and luminous in the half-dark, as his tail twines around Yunho’s calf. 

_“I’m scared…_ ”

“Scared? Of what?” says Yunho. “Of\- Of sleeping alone?”

Changmin lets out a whimper of assent, and Yunho can’t help but smile.

“Oh my gosh,” he whispers. “You are so cute.”

He gets up and walks towards his bed and gets in it again, having to step around his things strewn across his messy bedroom floor, and pats the spot next to him. “Come up. You can sleep here, with hyung.”

Changmin lets out a small yip of joy at the invitation and lopes towards the bed, almost tripping over some of the things on the floor but manages not to due to sheer will alone. He scrabbles up to where Yunho is lying, nails catching at Yunho’s bed sheet in his haste to get there and hopes that he doesn’t rip anything. Changmin crawls close to Yunho’s chest, reaching out as best as he can to lick at the older boy’s cheek. 

“_Thank you, hyung.” _Another lick and he yawns, sleepiness catching up to him once he’s pressed up against Yunho’s solid weight. Warmth and security — just like home. It’s different than the kind of comfort he associated with his parents, with Yunho’s parents, but it feels _right_. “_Good_ _night._”

“Sweet dreams, Changmin,” whispers Yunho, running his hand down the length of Changmin’s back, but Changmin is asleep even before he’s able to hear that. Yunho kisses the top of Changmin’s head before he closes his eyes.

And before he falls asleep, he thinks — he quite likes having a younger brother.

.

**tbc**

.


	2. Chapter 2

.

There's a sliver of light underneath the curtain when Mihyun comes to wake them up, laughing quietly when she finds Changmin in Yunho's bed. He snuffles and whines as she tries to coax him awake, determined to remain curled up against Yunho for as long as he can. One of Yunho's hands is thrown over his belly, keeping him close, and the older boy tightens his grip on Changmin even as Mihyun tries to untangle them. She huffs in fond exasperation, mutters something about them being late and Changmin reluctantly cracks his eyes open.

He doesn't like being late. And he shouldn't make Yunho late too; he doesn't want to get him into trouble. 

Yunho is still asleep when he follows Mihyun to his own room, making a beeline to his bed so he can fix the slightly askew blanket. He hears the sound of drawers sliding open and turns around to see the older woman blinking at the mess inside them. 

"Did you let Yunho help?" she asks, grinning at him like they're sharing a secret. Changmin feels the tips of his ears growing warm when he nods slowly, fingers fiddling with the hem of his night shirt. Mihyun ruffles his hair and nudges him towards the bathroom. "Go on. Let's get you ready."

Changmin finds a set of uniform laid out on his bed when he gets out of the shower, crisp and new and almost similar to the ones he used to wear back in Seoul. Mihyun brushes his hair once he'd dressed himself and, with a flourish, declares him ready to steal a lot of hearts. He doesn't understand that last part, but he's soon distracted when he hears Yunho's voice calling for him from downstairs. Breakfast is rowdier than last night's dinner and they're bundled up into the car post-haste, Changmin squeezed between Yunho and Jihye in the backseat.

He finds Yunho’s hand and grabs it in a deathly grip. He’s not scared, not really, but he wishes Yunho is the one in his class, instead of Jihye.

Y unho squeezes the hand back, his chest bubbling up with excitement. He couldn't wait to show Changmin off to his friends; he's pretty sure his friends have also never seen a pup as cute as Changmin, and they're going to be so jealous of him.

It’s Changmin’s first day, so Mihyun takes Changmin to the admin office to get him registered and to introduce him to his teacher. Jihye goes with them since they will be in the same class, but his mother bends over to stop Yunho’s energetic footsteps in their same direction. “You should go to your own class, Yunho,” says Mihyun. Yunho pouts.

“But he’s my brother too,” he whines.

“He’s not in your class! You have to go, or you’re going to be late.”

Yunho pouts again and looks at Changmin, who looks up at him with his big, brown, sparkling eyes, and looks like he’s as sad to see Yunho go as Yunho is to go.

“We can play together at recess,” promises Yunho. Changmin nods sadly, and Yunho gives him a hug, which Changmin returns. In the corner of his eyes, Yunho sees Jihye rolling her eyes, and his mother hiding an amused smile as she pushes him away with another declaration that he’s going to be late at this rate.

There’s nothing he can say to make Yunho stay and Changmin swallows the low whine at the back of his throat, hands going to grab the straps of his bag to stop them from shaking. Mihyun strokes his hair, bends down to kiss his forehead and keeps waving at him as he follows Jihye to their classroom. She doesn’t talk to him and he’s fine with it, preferring to keep his eyes on the back of her head so he can ignore the curious stares that accompany their short trek. The teacher introduces him to his new classmates and he’s greeted by a chorus of “_Hello,__ Changmin~_”, which makes him feel marginally better. He’s given a table in the middle row, close to the window.

“I’m Song Qian,” says the girl to his right, smiling at him brightly. She smells like the flowers his mother used to keep in the kitchen and Changmin returns her smile after a few seconds. “But you can call me Victoria.” 

He isn’t expecting to make friends this quickly, but Victoria doesn’t seem too bothered by his reserved silence and she has somehow taken it upon herself to fill him in with all the things the class had done prior to his arrival. By the time recess rolls around, he’d learnt all the names of their classmates, the teachers and what she thinks of some of the older boys. She doesn’t mention Yunho, which is something of a relief to Changmin. She does ask him why he came in with Jihye. Considering that she’s been very kind so far, he tells her that he’s her brother. That makes Victoria frown, but before she can prod further, he’s rescued by the sound of the classroom door being thrown open.

Changmin jumps out of the chair because even without his more sensitive wolf senses, he can already tell who it is. 

“Yunho-hyung!” 

“Changmin!” yells Yunho, opening his arms wide. “Hi, Jihye!”

Jihye looks rather embarrassed, but Changmin is running over to him.

The opened arms are an invitation Changmin isn’t about to refuse. He barrels right into Yunho, ignoring Jihye altogether in favour of wrapping his own arms around Yunho’s waist and pressing his face into Yunho’s shirt. That sweet, comforting scent makes him hum happily and he tilts his head to look at the older boy. 

“I’ve missed you,” he whines, brows creasing and pushing his bottom lip out into a pout. 

“I missed you too!” echoes Yunho, and hugs Changmin in his arms, as if they’ve been separated from each other for weeks on end. “Do you want to go play?”

Changmin nods, excited to spend more time with Yunho after enduring hours of Victoria’s chattering. He pulls himself away, but still doesn’t let Yunho go. “Can we— go outside?”

“Yes, let’s! I think one of my friends brought a new football, we can play together! And you can meet all my friends!” He looks up at Jihye. “Do you want to play with us too, Jihye?”

Jihye looks almost revolted before shaking her head and linking arms with Victoria. “We’re going to braid our hair. Inside. Where we won’t get dirty.”

Yunho shrugs and takes Changmin’s hand. “Okay, let’s go!”

Changmin wants to play with Yunho alone, just the two of them like it had been back in his room, but he doesn’t know how to tell the older boy this without sounding too greedy. He’s only known Yunho for less than two days, after all, and of course Yunho would prefer his friends to Changmin. He nods, smile dimming, as they head out towards the courtyard. The playground is already swarming with other students and Changmin grips Yunho’s hand tighter, moves to hide behind him as some bigger boys approach them. 

“Oi, Yun! Who’s the kid?” one of them asks, peering at Changmin. “You’re babysitting?”

“Babysitting?” says Yunho, laughing. “No, this is my new baby brother, Changmin! Isn’t he cute?” He squeezes Changmin’s baby fat cheeks between his hands again. “He’s the cutest!”

Cutest, in the way he looks, as both human and wolf, and also the way he clings to Yunho.

He’s the  _cutest_.

Changmin scrunches his nose as his cheeks are squished between Yunho’s palms, helpless to resist because Yunho’s laughter is sunshine-bright and he looks so pleased when he calls Changmin his ‘_baby__ brother_’. The other boys laugh as well, loud and raucous, and Changmin bats at Yunho’s hands to let him go. So he can hide behind Yunho again. He really, really wishes they could’ve played alone.

A much older, taller boy steps closer to look at him — probably at least two years older than Yunho. Changmin doesn’t like the sneer on his face when he says, “Your dad picked up another stray, huh? Man, next time, tell him to find a prettier one.” He clicks his tongue. “Like your sister.”

Yunho feels a hot surge of anger overtake him and he turns on the bully, he’s so angry he can barely even see straight. He draws back a fist for a punch, but his other friends grab hold on his arms to stop him. “Yunho, no!”

Given that he’s not able to do anything but yell, Yunho roars, “Shut up, Kim Jitae!” Yunho’s still seething, and he’s breathing so hard he’s starting to get dizzy — or maybe that’s the anger — when the boy crosses his arms and smirks again. 

“And this is exactly why you and your kind should stay collared.”

Changmin is knocked away when Yunho jerks forward, his expression twisted into one of rage and his fingers balled into a fist, and he watches with rising trepidation as the other boys hold him back. He knows that he’s too small to be useful, but when the sneering boy had looked at Yunho and said ‘_collared_’, Changmin pulls his lips back to bare his teeth in a snarl. 

It’s a bad word.  _Collared_. He’d read about it. He’d found pictures and he can’t imagine someone doing something so terrible to Yunho. Who is kind and sweet and who smiles at Changmin so, so brightly. 

“You take that back!” Changmin screams, his voice ringing loudly above the pounding of blood in his ears. He rushes forward and shoves at the taller boy. “You take that back _right now_!”

Jitae stumbles back but doesn’t fall, and he’s now looking at Changmin like he’s nothing more than a mild annoyance. He then gives Changmin a shove of his own. “Get off, stray.”

And with the added anger, Yunho manages to break himself free from his friends, and he charges towards the boy, and knocks him onto the ground.

They’re both on the ground now, and Yunho manages to land a punch in their scuffle — not nearly as hard as he wants — but a split second later, it’s Yunho who has his back to the ground, being pinned there by the bigger boy, and two hard punches land on the side of Yunho’s jaw, each one sending sparks of white across his vision.

The moment he sees Yunho getting taken down, Changmin crouches on all four and shifts. Fury ripples through his spine, blotting out everything else, and he’s reduced to pure instinct with only one singular purpose —  _to protect_ . A snarl rumbles inside his throat as he lunges towards the boy, clamping his teeth down on the crook of an arm that’s holding Yunho to the ground. He hears a howl of pain from above, as well as screams from around them, and flexes his jaw in preparation to bite harder when a heavy blow strikes the side of his face. 

Changmin barely manages to hang on when another blow catches him at the same spot, dislodging him entirely and sending him skidding a few feet away. He tries to get back on his feet because Yunho needs him, Yunho is  _his _ to protect, but his legs buckle underneath him and he crumples to the ground.

A plaintive “_H-Hyung—”_ spills free, the syllables cracked and hitched into a sob.

The broken yelp is all that Yunho has to hear for him to become so, so enraged that he can’t help himself; before he knows it, he’s shifted too, and with the extra strength that the shift added, he easily overtakes the older boy, and now is looking into his fear-stricken eyes from on top of him. He bares his fangs and pushes down on his chest harder threateningly, and the boy yells, “Please! I’m sorry, please don’t kill me, please —“

It takes a supreme amount of self-control not to maul Jitae to death on the spot, but he steps off, and with the raw terror still in his eyes, Jitae runs, away from both of them.

Yunho makes his way towards Changmin after he’s sure that he’s gone. Changmin is still lying on the ground, and Yunho nudges him with his snout urgently. “_Changmin__ — Changmin, are you hurt?_”

Changmin whines, his entire body throbbing, unused to the abuse, but he raises his head to lick at Yunho’s muzzle. Weakly, before he’s flopping down to the ground again. “_I’m__ sorry, hyung— I couldn’t do anything—” _

Yunho just paces around Changmin, he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do, because Changmin looks really, really hurt, and he feels tears of anguish gather in his eyes. He lets out a long howl, and only then does he realize that there’s no one around him — no student, no teachers — and then he finally remembers that he’s at school. He closes his eyes and shifts back, and then when he opens them again, he’s so, so aware of everyone in the playground just staring at him. The tears fall, but no one seems to want to approach them.

“Please - Please help,” yells Yunho. When still no one comes to their aid, He looks at Changmin and pets his head. “Changmin, Changmin, you have to shift back, or no one’s going to help. Please —“

Changmin cracks an eye open, his mind still muddled with pain, and he whines when he sees Yunho crying. He’d thought Yunho was okay, but he must’ve been wrong. Someone is still hurting the older boy. Someone is making him cry. Changmin clenches his jaw and staggers to his feet shakily, whimpering when they threaten to give away again. Yunho is saying something, words smudging into one another as tears streak down his cheeks, and Changmin can’t make sense of anything else beyond the fact that he’d failed to protect Yunho.

And then, there are footsteps heading towards them. Voices telling them to  _not move _ and  _be calm._ Changmin turns around and almost stumbles, but he snarls at the newcomers, determined to stand his ground this time. He’s vaguely aware of Yunho’s hands on his haunches, trying to pull him back and down. The ones who come for them are adults and he recognises his teacher as they form a circle around. She’s the one who moves forward first, making soft, soothing noises, hands outstretched as she shuffles closer. Her expression falters when Changmin growls at her. 

“You have to shift back,” she says, her voice gentle, even if the glint in her eyes isn’t. “Everything is okay now. We won’t hurt you.” 

Yunho’s pulling him back again, stronger this time that Changmin has no choice but to go down. The teacher nods at someone behind them and the next thing Changmin knows, he’s being picked up by hands in thick, rough gloves and carried away. He tries to struggle out of them but they’re tight around his ribs, making it hurt to breathe as he calls out for Yunho over and over again. He hears Yunho’s voice scrabbling after him and he struggles harder, even snapping at the hands and inviting a muttered curse from whoever’s taking him away from Yunho. He’s still crying out for Yunho when he’s brought into a small room inside the school, where there’s a wooden cage placed on top of a bed. A stern-faced lady stands next to it and closes the lid once he’s deposited into the middle of the cage, before walking away to talk to the person who brought him there. 

Hurt and confused, Changmin curls up in one corner of the cage and squeezes his eyes shut. 

He wants to go home. He wants his own Umma and Appa.

.

Yunho is in the unfamiliar principal’s office, bloodied lip and all. It’s still empty, the teachers are just outside the office, talking about what happened. Yunho’s tears still haven’t stopped all this time, and he’s so worried for Changmin that he can’t sit still.

A little while later, the principal steps in, and Yunho jumps up from the chair and faces the tall, stern bespectacled woman.

“Is Changmin okay?” asks Yunho, tears spilling over again. “He’s just scared. He’s not a — He’s just scared, he’s —“

“Yunho,” she says, pointing at the chair again, “have a seat.”

“Where is he?” asks Yunho tearfully, shaking as he gets into the chair. “Please, is he okay?”

“Your parents are on their way. You don’t have to worry about your brother.”

Yunho suppresses another sob. “I swear he’s just scared and confused, he’s —“

“Jung Yunho,” she says sternly, and when Yunho looks up at her, she continues. “What _absolutely appalling_ behaviour. From _both_ of you.”

Yunho hangs his head. He knows that shifting in public is wrong, and it’s strictly forbidden on school grounds so yes, Yunho had misbehaved, but she’s right, Jitae  _had_ been absolutely appalling, and it was just to defend Changmin —

“_Two_ young wolves shifting to attack another student — I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Wait.

Yunho clutches the side of his chair.

“But —“

“No buts,” says the principal, shaking her head. “That was —“

“But he called Changmin a stray!” cries Yunho. “And he said — he said we should be _collared_!”

Yunho breaks out in a new set of sobs, feeling so wronged. It feels absolutely miserable to say the awful words himself, and to hear himself say it.

The principal listens to him cry for a while, then when he’s quiet enough to be able to hear her words, she speaks to him again, quietly. “Well, you’re not helping your case much by behaving this way, are you?” 

Yunho looks up at her in shock. It feels like he’s been punched in the gut, and he’s so surprised that he can’t even talk.

“We will deal with Jitae and his behaviour separately. We’re talking about you and your brother’s right now.”

Yunho curls in on himself, and he just wants to go home and cry, because this is so, so unfair, when there’s a knock at the door. The principal sighs and says, “Come in”.

It’s the teacher who’d taken Changmin away earlier, and Yunho looks up at him, hoping he’s bringing some news about his brother. And he is.

“He’s been in the cage for twenty minutes already, and he still won’t shift back,” he says. “I don’t know what to do. His parents should be arriving soon.”

The principal starts massaging her head, and Yunho gets to his feet.

“Let me help,” says Yunho. He wipes his tears with his sleeve and sniffles. “I can help. He’s just scared, I promise. He’s not going to hurt anyone if I’m there.”

They exchange looks, and eventually, she nods in resignation. “Fine. Mr. Lee, why don’t you take Yunho with you.”

Yunho lets out another sob of relief, and he hurries out of the office, before she can change her mind.

The room is quiet, oppressively so, and Changmin has been inside the cage for so long that confusion gives way to panic. Staggering to his feet, he can see no one when he cranes his neck to look around. The door is closed, so is the window and the air inside is thick and stagnant. Changmin lowers his head, whimpering into the fold of his front legs as he closes his eyes again. A new fear emerges — had he been left behind? Is he going to have to stay here, taken from his newfound family because he’s not strong enough to protect his pack? Fat drops of tears roll down Changmin’s cheeks, wetting the fur there and making his chest constrict with hurt.

Won’t he see Yunho again?

He’s drifting off, exhaustion weighing his bones down, when a familiar scent makes his eyes snap open. It’s faint, still far away, but it’s unmistakable.

_Yunho-hyung!_

Changmin springs to his feet, scratching at the wooden bars, howling as loudly as he can. He gets increasingly more desperate when the doorknob rattles and he slams against the cage, over and over again, heedless of the pain that screams back at him. He must’ve cut himself open on a sharp edge somewhere inside the cage because he can taste blood on his muzzle but his mind barely registers the hurt, completely focused on getting to the older boy. 

“ _Yunho-hyung! Hyung, please don’t leave me! Hyung, I’m sorry—”_

Yunho hears Changmin’s faint whimpers before he even enters the room, and even though he tried his hardest to clean his tears for Changmin, hearing him like this is hard. As they reach the room, he turns to the teacher who’s brought him there.

“Let me have just five minutes alone with him,” he says, looking up. “You can come in after five minutes, and I promise, he’ll have shifted back.”

The teacher probably isn’t supposed to (to be honest, he probably shouldn’t have brought Yunho at all), but Yunho guesses he’s at the end of his rope, because he just nods and lets Yunho step inside and closes the door behind him.

Yunho gasps, and has to clap his hand over his mouth as soon as he sees the cage. The tears spring back to his eyes, but he reminds himself, he can’t cry, not in front of Changmin looking at him like that through those ugly bars. So instead, he reaches up to open the cage hastily, and reaches inside to help him out.

Seeing Yunho sets something inside Changmin to an almost feral frenzy, fear and relief crowding inside his head and blacking out everything else. There are bruises on Yunho’s face, ugly stark colours against his pallid skin, and when the older boy removes the latches that keep the top of the cage down, Changmin jumps at him. Nails digging and scrabbling along the hands that are pulling him out, heedless of whether or not he’d drawn blood in his haste to make sure that Yunho is okay. His hind legs catch on Yunho’s midriff and he uses them as a foothold to push his snout into the juncture between Yunho’s neck and shoulders. 

“_Please don’t leave me alone—” _He’s shuddering through his tears, hurting everywhere. _“—don’t__ let them put me in the cage again, hyung—_”

Yunho winces as Changmin’s nails dig into his skin, but nevertheless, he still holds Changmin tightly against his body. “Why would I leave you alone? I’m right here, Changmin, I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

Changmin squirms and whimpers against him, and still holding him tight Yunho sits down on the floor, so that he can take a closer look at Changmin. There’s some blood on his snout, from a cut that looks fresh, and Yunho clenches his teeth and tries to put away the distress he’s feeling from it. Changmin is still looking frantic though, and Yunho decides to shift too, so that they can be on the same wavelength. This time, it feels a bit different — almost uncomfortable — but he curls himself around Changmin and lays down completely, so that Changmin can see that it’s okay to relax. He licks at Changmin’s wound.

“_It’s okay,_” Yunho reassures him again. “_I’m__ sorry about what happened. It’s all going to be okay. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of anymore. I’m here_.”

Being enveloped in Yunho’s warmth and his calming scent does wonders for Changmin’s frayed nerves, and the tension that had been winding him up too tightly begins to loosen. The gentle slide of Yunho’s tongue grounds him even further and his sobs turn to hitching breaths, as his mind clears enough to recognise that Yunho isn’t going to leave him there. Changmin burrows further into Yunho, never wanting to let go. 

“_Did I do wrong_?” he whines, the memory of being separated from the older boy still too fresh in his mind. “_Are__ they going to take me away from you?_”

Despite everything, Yunho lets out a short howl of laughter. “_They__ couldn’t take you away from me if they tried. You’re my family, no matter what happens._” He licks the younger again in between. “_Which,__ they’re not trying to take you away from me, by the way. They can’t._”

It’s good, to hear Yunho laughing. It means that they’re no longer in danger and that no one is coming to rip them apart again.

Changmin seems to relax a lot more after hearing that, and Yunho nuzzles him. “_But__ the humans don’t understand us when we’re in wolf, so they get scared. That’s why we’re not supposed to be in wolf when we’re at school._”

“_Scared?_” Changmin’s tilts his head to look at Yunho, confusion pulling at his expression. “_But__ why? I used to do it before, at school. Everyone does it. Mama said it’s okay, it’s—”_ He struggles to remember what his mother had said on his first day, her actual words slipping like oil through his fingers. “_—natu…__ ral? We’re wolves and it’s… it’s okay to be wolves._”

“_You… used to do it at school?_” Now Yunho is equally confused. “_The__ humans — they just, played together with you while you were wolves?_”

Changmin scrunches his face, trying to understand what Yunho is asking. He’d never thought about it, if there are humans in the school. If it’s an important distinction. “_I__ don’t know… Everyone could shift and we did it all the time. Except during class, because we’re supposed to learn and it’s hard to write with paws_—”

Yunho’s eyes grow wide, understanding finally coming to him. “_Oh,__ you went to a school with — with all wolves!”_

Changmin nods, and Yunho feels a smile coming to him, just with the very thought of being in a school with just wolves. That sounds — so, so, lovely — 

“_You have to tell me all about it when we get home,_” says Yunho, getting up halfway now in excitement, but Changmin still looks plenty confused. There’s a sound outside the door, and Yunho’s reminded of the five minutes that he promised. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to be explain in the time that he has. “_But__ anyway. I guess, what I’m saying is, we’re okay now. And we have to shift back, because — the rule at this school is that we aren’t supposed to shift while we’re at school. And I think… that we’re already in enough trouble_.”

He gives Changmin one last lick before shifting back. For some reason, it feels almost relieving to go back to human, even though he knows his more natural state is his wolf. He pushes that strange feeling down and opens his arms to the small wolf pup in front of him. “Come on.”

Changmin doesn’t want to shift, convinced that he’s much too vulnerable in his human form than he does a wolf. It’s hard to forget how it was a human that hurt Yunho in the first place,  _human face human hands human fists_ , and it’s almost nauseating to take on that shape when the hurt is still fresh. He whines in despair as he watches Yunho shift, feeling the loss of the beautiful white wolf more keenly than he had before, but Yunho is asking him to do the same and Changmin can’t refuse. 

The transformation brings forth another slew of pain, every bruise and cut throbbing in tandem through his small human body. It’s worse now than it was a few seconds ago, and Changmin can’t help the tears that roll down his cheeks as he groans. A reminder that wolves are better, stronger and that he much prefers being lupine than— than  _this. _ He clutches at Yunho’s shirt to pull himself up and gives a startled yelp when the door slams open with such force that it bounces off the wall. He turns, wide-eyed, to see Jung Yanghyun standing there, radiating such wrath that Changmin’s inner wolf quails away under those sharp eyes. 

He can feel Yunho stiffen, the hand around his shoulder pulling him closer to the other boy. 

“Yunho,” Yanghyun says, striding inside in measured steps that makes him look almost calm, when he’s anything but. He stops close enough that the smell of his fury makes Changmin whimper, and the older man glances at him before he drops to one knee. His voice is firm when he asks his son, “Tell me what happened.”

Yunho is scared at how angry his father is, but at the same time, he’s so relieved to have him here, that the tears return. With his father there, he’s starting to feel all the aches in his body too, and he sniffles. “I just, I was just playing in the yard with Changmin, and then Jitae —“

He looks at Changmin clinging to his arm beside him, and he doesn’t want Changmin to have to hear those horrible words again, so he closes his mouth firmly again.

Yanghyun clenches his jaw, his sharp eyes cataloguing the wounds on the boys, and the protective instinct of an alpha rears its head. He remembers the phone call he received half an hour ago that brought him rushing over from his office in the city. They told him that both Yunho and Changmin had broken the school’s rule regarding shifting and went further to expound on how they had hurt a fellow student, an offence that would most certainly lead to expulsion and a remark in their public records. As if the world isn’t hard enough on their kind. Yanghyun sees the fear in Changmin’s eyes, how Yunho is unconsciously shielding the younger boy and it takes an entire lifetime’s worth of painstakingly cultivated self-control to keep him from striding back to the principal’s office. 

And perhaps ripping her a new orifice. 

“What did Jitae do?” Yanghyun reaches out to curve a hand over Yunho’s shoulder, wants nothing more but to gather them into his arms. But he needs to get the entire story, before he can figure out where to go from there. “I won’t be mad at you, Yunho.” He nods at Changmin. “Or Changmin.”

Yunho looks at Changmin again, who’s leaning into him now, and it’s so awful that even now, he doesn’t want to say it. But clutching Changmin’s hand, he speaks slowly and quietly. “He said… awful things.” He looks up at his father, who looks at him, the anger having died down and concern starting to take over. “He \- He called Changmin a… a s-stray and he - he said something horrible about Jihye too, and then, when I got mad, he said that’s why we need to be collared —“ The tears are falling again, and he pulls Changmin closer. “And then — Changmin didn’t know the rules, he went to a wolf only school before, where they’re allowed to shift whenever they want! And me, I was —“

Yunho doesn’t quite find a good excuse for himself. Guilt bubble up inside him, and he can’t look in his father’s eyes anymore.

“I’m really sorry,” he whispers, dropping his head. He’s downright ashamed of himself for losing control like that. It’s not okay, and he knows it.

The anguish in Yunho’s voice is enough to convince Yanghyun that the version of the schoolyard altercation he’d been fed is nothing more than a heaping pile of bullshit. He can smell it miles away, but the principal was adamant that the boys were unprovoked and she even volunteered to be an intermediate if there’s a need for a meeting between the two families involved. After years working as a civil rights lawyer, Yanghyun wants to believe that the world is getting better in their treatment of the wolves population. Equality is the usual rallying cry, but, he’s not so naive as to believe that they have managed to stop the discrimination altogether. It takes more than legislation to eradicate hundreds of years of prejudice and to see his own family, his own  _pack_ being subjected to the same vile treatment rankles at him like nothing else had. 

“You don’t need to apologise,” he says, finally drawing closer to wrap his arms around the boys. “You’ve done nothing wrong. Both of you.” 

They’re so small in his embrace, especially Changmin, and he wonders how he’d brought the boy from one tragedy to another. Dongsik would’ve had his head. Yanghyun feels Yunho’s tears seep through his jacket, realises how hard Changmin is shaking, and he knows that he needs to get them out of here as soon as possible. Mihyun must be getting antsy at home and he would rather not keep his mate waiting any longer, considering how upset she’d been when he called her on his way to the school. He’s pulling away, straightening up to his full height in preparation to march back to the principal’s office when he notices the cage. 

Yanghyun goes absolutely, deathly still. The wolf inside him howls bloody murder.

He looks down at Yunho and Changmin, fingers flexing into fists and voice shifting into a low growl as he asks, “Did someone put you in a cage?”

Yunho knows that he's just been asked a question, but the silence is so deafening that he can't easily break it. Yunho just stands silently until his father lifts his arm to point at the cage.

"Did. You boys. End up in that  _cage?"_

Yunho looks at Changmin, who  is frozen in fear, and he finally opens his mouth.

"Changmin — he was really scared and confused, so he wasn't shifting back, and then — when I came into the room to help him shift back, he was… he was inside," manages Yunho.

His father's fury looks like it's at least quadrupled.

"Inside what," his father says, voice  going as sharp and dangerous as the blade of a knife. 

Yunho swallows. "The… the cage."

Yanghyun whirls around, taking a moment to center himself and to force the wolf back so he doesn't scare the boys. The urge to fight, to protect and to kill always hover just below the surface, especially when it concerns the safety of his pack members, but he'd sacrificed too much and spent too many years fighting demeaning stereotypes to give into his instinct at that moment. In the olden days, such an insult to his pack would mean he'd be ripping into human flesh to remind them that wolves are nothing like leashed dogs, that they had been the apex predator long before the first gibbering monkeys started walking on two legs. 

But times have changed and reverting back to their ancestral ways is not an option Yanghyun can afford to take, no matter how badly the wolf demands it.

That doesn't mean that he can't express his outrage in other satisfying, albeit less bloody, ways. 

"Come," he says through gritted teeth, being very careful to keep the animosity from his voice. Cubs are sensitive when they're young, easily impressionable, and he doesn't want either Yunho or Changmin to think that he's upset at them. They have already suffered enough. "We're going home."

One of the teachers is lingering outside, the uncertainty on his young face twisting into alarm when he sees Yanghyun stalking out of the room, followed by the two very quiet boys. He opens his mouth to protest but closes it with a snap when Yanghyun glares at him, and proceeds to hastily step out of the older man's warpath. The office is just around the corner and Jihye is already waiting there, sitting on a wooden bench close to the door as she picks at her long braid. Yanghyun wonders what she’d heard from other students, but his worry is alleviated when, upon spotting them, she jumps to her feet and rushes first to her brothers. Petting and stroking their arms and shoulders fretfully, so much like a reflection of her mother. Perhaps not as fierce, not yet. Yanghyun asks them to stay there, before heading inside the office. 

The principal looks up from a spread of papers on her table and offers him a dry, patronising smile. She steeples spindly fingers together and looks, for all intents and purposes, like the incident had personally inconvenienced her. “Mr Jung, as I’m sure you’ve come to understand, this institution—”

“—is about to be investigated under the federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s origin,” Yanghyun cuts her off, watching her gape at him in shock. “Do you know, Miss Kwon, that integrated schools, like _yours_, are held to a strict standard when it comes to how they’re required to treat students from a… different biological profile? It’s quite clear cut, since the government would like to ensure that their funding would go to schools that actually adhere to the very reasonable demands of the Equality Act.” He bares his teeth in a terrifying approximation of a wolfish grin. The principal shudders, the colours have long drained from her face to leave it an ashen, horror-stricken visage. “One of which strongly implies that _you do not put a fucking child in a fucking cage_.”

Yanghyun allows the ominous silence that follows his statement to stretch for little bit longer, before he’s satisfied that he’d made his point. 

“You’ll be hearing from the Education Board soon, I suspect. And the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Good day, Miss Kwon.”

He exits the office before she can recover, uninterested in whatever defence or reason she might come up with to save her own ass. This is a battle he intends to win. And win ruthlessly, not only for the sake of his cubs, but for others as well. Yanghyun gathers the school bags Jihye must’ve picked up earlier and hefts them over his shoulder, going straight to the tight cluster of small bodies near the far wall. Yunho is petting Changmin’s head and whispering soft words to the younger boy, who’s still sniffling quietly. His red-rimmed eyes are no longer leaking tears though and he doesn’t look as scared as he did before, which is a definite improvement. Jihye stands at their side like a bulwark, one of her hands holding Yunho’s, while the other rests on Changmin’s shoulder. She’s also scowling fiercely at anyone who’s looking at them for too long.

Yanghyun pauses to smile at the picture they make and despite the resounding ache in his chest, he thinks that the cubs are going to grow up to be fine wolves, as long as they have each other. 

.

**tbc**

.


	3. Chapter 3

.

Yunho digs through his drawers furiously.

“Aw, come on,” he whispers under his breath in exasperation.

He did his laundry a few days ago (or was it a few weeks ago…?), there is no way he should be out of socks. He has one sock on already, but the other one — _ what even? How could it not be there? _

Yunho hadn’t expected to be invited by Hojun and their other friends this weekend to hang out, but he called, asking if he wanted to go to a movie with them. Yunho didn’t even think before saying an enthusiastic, _ Yes! _

_ We’re leaving in ten minutes though, so you have to hurry if you don’t want us to leave without you _ , Hojun had warned, and even though he was probably just saying that to scare Yunho into hurrying up, the movie _ does _ start at a set time, and they probably would leave without him if he is too late.

Yunho’s still sifting through his drawer when his phone rings again. He struggles to pick it up, and he’s out of breath when he says, “Hello?”

_ Where are you? We’ve been waiting for you for like, fifteen minutes already, _ complains Hojun, and Yunho hurriedly shouts, “I’m coming _ right now _! Don’t leave without me!” before hanging up.

Yunho slams the drawer shut.

_ Whatever. _

He runs out of the room in just his one sock, and tries to bolt down the hallway, but has to stop dead in his tracks.

Changmin stands in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed, staring right at Yunho. Yunho tries to step around him, but Changmin steps into his path again.

“What,” says Yunho, looking up at him.

God, when did Changmin get so tall.

Changmin can hear Yunho’s mad scramble from inside his own room and he can pretty much tell that the older boy is heading out somewhere, since he also hears Hojun’s name through the wall. It’s not like he doesn’t want Yunho spending time with his friends (because that would be ridiculous), but Yunho’s friends tend to be… loud and domineering. And _ human_. It gets even worse after they've started high school. Another bang from inside the next room and Changmin jumps out of bed to shift. His thick grey coat gives way to t-shirt and jeans, and it takes him seconds to re-orient himself as he goes from four to two. 

With just enough time to stop Yunho at the hallway. 

“You’re supposed to clean the garage today,” he says, raising an eyebrow. And immensely enjoying what little height he has over Yunho. “_Hyung _.”

_ Seriously? _

“I will,” replies Yunho impatiently. “Changmin, I’m just — I’m in a hurry, so —“

Changmin clicks his tongue, standing his ground so Yunho can’t go around him. This is a game he’d win every single time, especially after his growth spurt a couple years back. 

“The last time—” he drawls out, slowly, as he stifles a grin at the crease between Yunho’s eyebrows. “—you came back late and I had to do your share of the chores so Appa wouldn’t find out. You promised you’ll help me with the garage today, remember?”

“I promise, I won’t be late today. I swear. Pinky swear,” emphasizes Yunho, pleading up into Changmin’s eyes. Never mind that nobody actually pinky swears anyone at their age. “Changmin, I really — I have to go —“

It’s Changmin’s turn to frown. “Why? Where are you going?”

Yunho hesitates. “I… Just, the movies. With friends. I’m already late,” appeals Yunho once again, and he tries to step around Changmin one more time. It doesn’t work.

“Movies?” The frown gives way to a pout, one that Changmin still wields even though he’s no longer eight. He’d also taken a half-step forward, close enough that if he reaches out, he can box Yunho in if he wants to. “So… you’re going to go out to have fun and leave me here? Alone?”

Yunho swallows, and he looks up one more time pleadingly at the younger, who looks like he’s not going to budge, no matter what Yunho says. “It… it’s just going to be a few —“

Yunho’s interrupted by a ring to his phone. He jumps, and he scrambles to take it out and answers it urgently. “Hojun hyung? I’m almost —“

Hearing Hojun’s response, Yunho’s face falls immediately, and he loses all extraneous strength that isn’t necessary for anything more than just standing. “Oh.”

_ We’ll go again another time_, Hojun soothes, and Yunho tries not to sound too hurt. “Okay. Have fun.”

After a weak “bye”, he puts down the phone and looks up at Changmin.

“…They left.”

It’s not hard to school his face into a neutral, if slightly contrite expression, instead of the triumph that sings inside his veins. While he doesn’t like seeing Yunho so crestfallen, Changmin much prefers having to deal with the sulking in the near future compared to spending the entire day worrying about what Yunho is doing out there with his friends. 

“C’mon, hyung. We can watch movies together after we’re done with the garage,” he says, grabbing Yunho’s forearm to tug him closer. Warmth instantly pools in his belly as he gets a whiff of that sweet scent that’s uniquely Yunho’s, and it takes a lot of self-control for him not to shove his nose into the soft skin underneath Yunho’s jaw. “—Why are you wearing only one sock?”

Yunho sighs sadly. "I just… really wanted to go to the movies."

He tugs his arm out of Changmin's grip and drags his feet back to his room.

If there’s one thing Changmin absolutely hates, it’s when Yunho is upset. It’s not just the absence of crinkle-eyed grins and loud laughter that he usually associates with Yunho, the older boy’s scent also changes with the turn of his mood, like a punch to Changmin’s guts, and it rankles at him for reasons he still haven’t figured out. Even after all these years.

Changmin shifts back, fur rippling at the quick change, and he pads towards Yunho’s room. He noses the door open quietly and makes his way towards the bed, where Yunho is lying face-down. Unmoving. He puts his front paws on the edge of the mattress and hoists himself up, thinks that this is a much better option right at that moment than simply jumping onto the other boy. It won’t be the first time he’d knocked the wind out of Yunho and initiated an even longer sulking treatment. Yunho still doesn’t make any move to acknowledge his presence, which hurts a bit, and he pushes his snout against the back of Yunho’s neck, whining softly as he does so.

“_Hyung, are you angry at me? _"

Yunho doesn't know, honestly — he just knows that he's been wanting to spend some time outside of school with Hojun, but it hasn't been easy. Although Yunho has so far always pretended that he accepts the reasons that Changmin gives to dissuade Yunho from hanging out with Hojun, he isn't so dumb that the doesn't realize that, for whatever reason, Changmin doesn't seem to like Hojun and his other friends and has stopped him from hanging out with them a number of times now. And now, besides upset, he doesn't know what to feel. 

Changmin whines again and pushes himself closer to Yunho, and although he hasn't apologized for ruining Yunho's evening plans, at least he's _ acting _ like he's sorry.

"Maybe you should just say sorry," says Yunho, finally lifting his head to look at Changmin.

Changmin’s brows furrow, doesn’t like what the request implies. As if he’d committed a terrible wrong in trying to keep Yunho home, where he’s, _ technically _, supposed to be while Yanghyun and Mihyun are away purchasing Jihye’s ballet supplies. Sure, they didn’t make the instruction explicit, but— well. He’s just looking out for his pack brother, like he’s always done. This self-imposed directive seems particularly prudent, considering the fact that it doesn’t escape Changmin’s notice how Yunho had developed the confusing habit of spending more time with his human friends than those of their kind. He only goes to the local pack meetings because Yanghyun expects him to, as the eldest son. Changmin wouldn’t admit it even under duress, but that habit is becoming more than just a slight irritant. 

Apologies, therefore, is the last thing on his mind. 

He lays his head on his front paws, staring at Yunho with what’s basically amounted to the lupine version of a pout. He even opens his eyes extra wide, mostly for effect. “_But I didn’t do anything wrong, hyung~ _ ” The eyes get bigger. “_I just didn’t want you to get into trouble with Umma and Appa._”

Yunho clenches his teeth and pushes Changmin off.

"_Okay_. You know, you don't have to be like this," says Yunho in annoyance, the words spilling out of his mouth. "I know how to take care of myself, too, without you putting your snout in every single thing I try to do."

The rejection stings, even more so with the look on Yunho’s face. It’s not often that the older boy gets truly angry and every single time that happens, Changmin finds himself scrambling to right whatever wrong had been committed. He crawls back to Yunho’s side, pushing his face into Yunho’s shoulder and licking at the patch of skin there. That’s as close to an apology as it’s going to get. 

“_It’s not like I— don’t trust you_,” he murmurs, half-muffled from where his muzzle is nuzzling Yunho’s neck. The not-quite-right scent is still there, and it unsettles and annoys him in equal measures. “_You don’t spend your time with me anymore…_”

"Min, I _ live _ with you," says Yunho in exasperation. "I see Hojun hyung and them, like, once a week! _ If _ you let me."

He's annoyed, but the way Changmin keep shoving his wet nose into his neck tickles, and his hand goes naturally to stroke the top of his head, scratching behind his ears with his fingers.

Changmin knows he’d partially won Yunho over when the scratching begins. He tilts his head, allowing Yunho better access as happy, contented noises rumble through his throat. He burrows closer and by the time he’s done, every point of their limbs are touching. This is how it’s supposed to be — curled up with each other, with no one else to come between them.

Though this would feel better if the older boy shifts. Changmin wrinkles his nose when he remembers that it’s been some time since he last saw Yunho’s lean, snow-white wolf come out to play. 

“_You see them at school too! _ ” he points out, unwilling to lose this particular argument. He bats at Yunho’s nose, determined to shift the subject matter to something more important than Yunho’s human friends. “_How come you don’t shift anymore? Now I see you like this— _ ” Changmin nips at Yunho’s ear, gently. “_—all the time _.”

He’s smart enough not to tell Yunho that he doesn’t like it, even though it’s true.

"No, you don't," says Yunho defensively. "I shifted last week, during full moon, at the pack gathering."

Changmin huffs, lifting his head to stare at Yunho. "_That’s once! In three months! And you only did it because the pack expected you to! _ " He licks at Yunho’s cheek, the growl gentling into a displeased whine when Yunho’s scent goes sharper. "_We used to play together all the time, hyung. I missed seeing you. _"

“We’re not 10 years old anymore, Changmin,” says Yunho. “I just — You can do more when you’re… you know. Not…”

The words get stuck in his throat, with the discomfort that even thinking about shifting wolf brings him. He feels the anxiety that it brings in his stomach, and he swallows not to feel any more nauseous than he actually is. He sits up, just to get the feeling away. Even shifting last week had been uncomfortable — he had to force himself just because the entire pack had shifted. He stayed with the pack only until he absolutely needed to, then breathing hard, he locked himself into the bathroom and bent over the toilet bowl to throw up all the stew that he’d eaten earlier with the pack, after he shifted back to human which is _ much _ more comfortable.

He didn’t think anyone had noticed, but maybe Changmin had.

“Like, I can’t clean the garage if I’m wolf. So you should actually be grateful.”

Changmin is jostled to the side when Yunho moves, feeling the loss of warmth acutely as he frowns at the stiff, unrelenting line of Yunho’s shoulder. Even more so when he can tell that this is the older boy’s version of avoiding the topic, one that’s been brewing at the back of his head since he first started noticing Yunho’s reluctance to shift. It’s hard not to, when they spend most of their time together, either in or out of the house. 

Before, Changmin didn’t think much of it, because Yunho still shifted once in a while — piling up together in front of the television during movie nights, playing tag with him and Jihye at the back of the house, play-fighting when he’s trying to distract Changmin from studying. He didn’t… _ feel _ any different. But slowly, Changmin sees less and less of the wolf; he can’t even remember the last time he heard Yunho’s howling laughter in the open. And when he starts paying more attention, he notices a lot more of these instances. Yunho seems to go out of his way to avoid situations where he’s expected to shift, almost as if he’s shunning them unless he has no other choice. Even when he and Jihye lounge around the house in their wolves form, Yunho would no longer join them. 

It becomes worse after the pack gathering. He’d lost sight of Yunho after the first hour and when he’d found the older boy later, he’s in human skin and smelled vaguely of mint. Yunho went straight to bed once they arrived home, ignoring Changmin’s questions. And actually ignoring him the entire week, slipping away when Changmin tried to corner him. 

They’re here now and he isn’t about to let Yunho go until he gets his answers.

“_That’s bullshit and you know it_," he growls, pawing at Yunho to get him to look at Changmin. When that doesn’t work, he shifts and grabs Yunho's shoulder, none too gently turning his around. "What are you not telling me, hyung?” His eyes narrow. “We don’t keep secrets from each other, _ right_?"

“_Language_, Changmin,” chastises Yunho, and in human form, he has a much harder time looking at Changmin in the eyes. “My gosh. I told you. What is it you want to hear?”

He ignores the chastise, as he often does. Yunho isn’t even looking at him straight and Changmin loosens his grip when he’s sure he wouldn’t just bolt out of the room. “Why don’t you shift like you used to?”

Yunho pushes Changmin off and gets out of his bed, starting to get frustrated and angry now. He tries to walk out of the room, but Changmin grabs his arm and pulls him back. Yunho glares. “Let go.”

Normally, he wouldn’t have pushed too hard. Yunho is such a ridiculously sunny person that it’s rare to see him angry and every single one of Changmin’s instinct is screaming at him to pacify the older boy, but he _ needs _ to know. He digs his finger into soft skin, not too much that it’d bruise, but enough to let Yunho know that Changmin isn’t letting go anytime soon. 

“I’m worried about you, hyung,” he tries to reason, keeping his voice calm and measured. Tugging Yunho gently towards him, like he’s coaxing a hurt cub. It’s been years since their positions were reversed and he defiantly refuses to think about that terrifying incident, despite how badly it had affected him. “Please talk to me?”

“It just — It feels —“ Yunho winces, because he knows exactly how bad this sounds, and he doesn’t want to admit it, but it’s exactly how it feels, so how else can he describe this? 

“It just feels _ wrong _, okay?”

Yunho can’t believe the words left his mouth, and he can’t look at Changmin, who’s frozen, just staring at Yunho.

“It just… doesn’t feel right,” he says, looking away.

It takes Changmin a few seconds to find his voice again, and when he does, it cracks and splinters with disbelief. “Doesn’t feel right?” He pulls back his hand and clears his throat, feeling like he’d just stepped in the twilight zone. “What does that even_ mean_?"

“I don’t know, it’s just how I feel,” pleads Yunho honestly, and he chews his lip. “It doesn’t mean I’m not proud of being a wolf, or that — or that I want to be human, and I know that it’s wrong to feel this way, but — I don’t know. I don’t… I don’t get it. It just… feels really uncomfortable to be in wolf.”

Yunho sounds, and smells, distressed, souring the sweetness that Changmin’s used to to the point where it becomes almost unbearable. He hates to leave it like this, questions left unanswered, but he also knows that he can't stand seeing Yunho like this. 

“_Fine_." His hands are on Yunho’s shoulders again and he pulls Yunho to him, wants nothing more than to wrap his arms tightly around the other boy. Another apology, of sorts. He buries his face into the crook of Yunho’s neck, murmuring, "I’m sorry if I upset you…”

Yunho digs his nails into the flesh of his fingers, ashamed of how he feels — but he still lets himself be comforted by the younger, leaning into the embrace.

It feels nice to finally get that off his chest, the secret he’d been holding for so long, and also that Changmin isn’t so offended by that, or angry at him.

“Please don’t tell Umma or Appa. Or anyone.”

The rational part of Changmin's brain points out that this is not the kind of thing that should be kept secret. They’re _ wolves_; that’s their natural, true state. Doesn’t matter how long they live among the human, there will always be that distinct divide. And to think that Yunho has been struggling with this, hiding it from the pack — Changmin’s brows furrow. 

“Maybe you’re sick," he says, running a hand along Yunho’s arm. “We should get you checked and— and fix this.”

“_No_, Changmin, I’m not sick, don’t tell! It’s —“

Yunho can’t even fathom how disappointed his father would be if he heard, or how worried his mother might be. How angry the pack might be. How betrayed they might all feel.

“I’ll figure it out on my own. Please. I don’t — I don’t want to be shunned from the rest of the pack. And don’t say they won’t, because they will! This is _ wrong_!“

“You know Appa won’t let that happen,” Changmin scowls, biting back the ‘_don’t be ridiculous_’ comment. Yunho’s agitation is rubbing off on him and his wolf scratches at the surface, desperate to make things better. Changmin barely manages to keep it under control. "Okay, okay. I won’t tell anyone.” He curves a hand over Yunho's neck and pulls the older boy to him, pressing their foreheads together. “But you have to promise that you'll let me help, alright?”

Yunho knows that there’s nothing that Changmin can do to help, but he just needs Changmin to promise that he’s not going to tell anyone else, so he nods. “Okay.”

Yunho’s agreement comes too easily, knowing how stubborn he can be. Changmin still doesn’t understand _ why _ the older boy is going to such lengths to keep his problem to himself, but he’d made a promise and he intends to keep it. It must have something to do with all the time Yunho spends with his human friends — which just means it’s up to Changmin to make sure Yunho keeps to the pack, where he belongs. He uses the hold he has on Yunho to drag him down, arranging their bodies so they’re facing each other on the bed. Legs tangled and fingers intertwined, to make sure that Yunho is as close to him as possible.

Changmin breathes in deeply, savouring the warmth of Yunho’s presence.

And then there’s the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, followed by the garage’s door sliding open. Changmin’s eyes are wide when he whispers, “Hyung, we haven’t—”

“_Jung Yunho! Shim Changmin! Get down here at once! _"

“Ah, shit.”

.

Yunho's nodding off again.

And Changmin thinks that their History teacher has narrowed in on that, because she’s now deliberately making her way towards Yunho while reading out a passage about the advances by the Wolf Liberation Front during the Second World War. Granted, it’s not as interesting as the Sokcho Massacre they discussed yesterday, but most of the students know better than to cross Miss Park, whose temper can be likened to that of a wildfire. She’s a few steps away from Yunho, heels clicking ominously, when Changmin raises his hand. 

“Miss Park?” Her head swivels towards him, eyes narrowing behind her glasses. Changmin keeps his face carefully blank when he continues, “I have a question about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact."

She sniffs, turning fully to face him. "We haven’t covered that yet, but I suppose you’ve done your reading?"

Changmin nods, aware that most of the class is now staring at him. He glances at Yunho, who looks more awake that he’d been minutes before, and almost rolls his eyes when the older boy flashes him a grin and a thumb’s up. He has no whatsoever interest in the Pact, but it's good distraction and he spends the rest of the class pretending to be interested in the spiel that has carried Miss Park over. Once she departs, leaving them with another list of readings that would take the entire weekend to go through, Changmin ambles over to Yunho's table.

"You almost got caught,” he grumbles, looking down at the pages of Yunho’s notebook. His untidy handwriting is flanked by doodles and weird geometric shapes, and lines that look like song lyrics. “You know you’ll get in trouble if she calls Appa again."

Yunho pouts. “Her classes are _ so _ boring. It’s a good thing that I have by little brother to save me. From both Miss Park’s and Appa’s wrath.” Yunho smiles genuinely.

“Saving your ass is not why I skipped two grades to be here, hyung." 

It’s partly true, though. Not that Changmin would let anyone know. While Yunho’s parents were skeptical about allowing him to take on the extra workload and classes required for him to be in the same class as his pack brother, they could not dissuade him from his decision. It works out just fine in the end — he gets along with the older students well enough, impresses most of the teachers with his work ethics and keeps his nose out of trouble.

Most importantly, he's not separated from Yunho._ Priorities_.

"I have training today." Changmin picks up Yunho’s pen and twirls it around his fingers. “You’ll wait for me, right?"

“Oh, yeah, of course!” says Yunho brightly. “Is it okay if I watch?”

Changmin stills. And slowly frowns. "Who? The girls?"

Yunho positively yelps, clapping his hand over his mouth. “No! Oh my gosh, Changmin! No, I want to watch you!”

Except, that sounds really weird too, now. It’s too late to take that back, though, so instead of trying to correct himself, Yunho just feels his face growing hot.

It’s really hard to keep a straight face at Yunho’s fumbling, but somehow, Changmin manages. Mostly because there are still others inside the class and it would be bad form for him to shift and lick the blush right off Yunho's cheeks, but also because most humans do not understand how physical wolves can be with each other. If they’re at home right now, he would’ve jumped the older boy and rolled him around on the floor, and nobody would bat an eyelash.

Although Jihye might make snide comments about dog piles or whatever, but what does she know.

“I’m just doing laps today, I think,” he says, mildly. After a heartbeat, he places a hand on Yunho’s table, the other on the back of Yunho’s chair, and leans a fraction closer to bracket him. Changmin hitches his mouth into a teasing grin. “Have you been watching me all this time, hyung?”

Yunho doesn't think his face can get any hotter. Okay, maybe he likes looking at — no, oh my gosh, _ watching _ Changmin practice sometimes, but it's just because he likes to make sure that Changmin is safe and doesn't need his help. And besides, how would Changmin know that?

Yunho wants to hide in a hole.

"I mean, I don't have to watch! I can just wait for you in the library!"

“I didn’t say I mind,” Changmin mutters, lips pursed into a pout. 

He _ definitely _ doesn’t mind being the centre of Yunho’s attention. In fact, he insists on it and the sooner Yunho recognises that, the better. The older boy is still flushed, the paleness of his skin making the colour stand out even more, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Changmin thinks of him as ‘pretty’. Another thing he’s not going to tell anyone, because it’s none of their business what he thinks of his pack brother. He pulls away when they start getting weird looks and crosses his arms, the tip of his shoe nudging Yunho’s chair. 

“Just come, hyung. I promise I won't tell anyone about your voyeuristic tendencies.”

"Stop it," says Yunho, giving Changmin a shove. "You're the one that likes _ being _ watched." Yunho gives Changmin a triumphant grin of his own. "I won't tell anyone about your exhibitionist tendencies. Though, I'm sure everyone knows already."

Changmin laughs, conceding the point. He’d finally grown into his own frame once they graduated middle school; no longer this awkward, lanky kid who followed Yunho around like a lost puppy. Swimming keeps him fit and thanks to his ridiculously high metabolism, he can pretty much eat anything without worrying about putting on weight. If he'd stripped off more often than Yunho, it's only because Yunho has this weird thing about his body. Which Changmin still doesn't understand, but at least nobody outside of the family gets to see Yunho half-naked. 

He considers that A Very Good thing.

The conversation is cut short when a couple of girls come up to Changmin, asking for help with their homework. While he usually doesn't spend more time than absolutely necessary with his human classmates, he makes an exception for their female counterparts. Some of them can be annoying, but most are mild-mannered and it's always funny to see how flustered they can get when they talk to him. Besides, they smell nice. Not as nice as Yunho, but he's resigned to the fact that nobody smells quite like the older boy. Changmin slants him a grin, before he turns to the girls to see what he can do for them.

For some reason, a surge of annoyance ripples through Yunho, and even before he realizes it, Yunho reaches out and grabs Changmin’s forearm and pulls rather hard, turning Changmin towards him again. Yunho even surprises himself. 

_ What the…? Why did I just do that? _

Changmin looks at Yunho quizzically, and Yunho lets go hastily.

“Hyung?” His shoulder throbs a bit from the pull, the actual force blindsiding him. He takes a few seconds to dismiss the girls, whose identical look of disappointment doesn’t bother him as much as Yunho’s silence. He drops his voice, brows furrowing. “Something wrong?”

“Um… no?” says Yunho, flustered but trying to feign innocence. “Why would you say that?”

He looks around the classroom in an attempt to look more natural. What the hell.

“You just yanked at me—” Changmin pauses. His frown slowly turns into a smirk as he braces a hand against the back of Yunho’s chair again. “Hyung, were you _ jealous? _”

“Of what? What? Jealous of what?” says Yunho defensively, and feeling somewhat offended at the same time. All that time, he can’t even look Changmin in the eye. “What are you even talking about? What was there to be even jealous of?” He snorts for show and turns away again.

“Uh huh. _ Right. _” Changmin drawls out the last word, stretching the vowel to demonstrate how much he does not believe a word that had spilled out of Yunho’s mouth. His smirk cuts wider, wolf-like. “I don't have to help them, y’know. If you don’t want me to.”

“Okay, well, then don’t,” whispers Yunho viciously at the invitation. Now there’s no hiding it, but he’s still annoyed as he thinks about the two girls and the way Changmin stepped closer to them, and Yunho _ did _ even notice him _ sniffing _ at them, _ my gosh _ — “They’re all competition, you know,” he improvises wildly. “You can’t be helping everyone with everything, or else I’m not gonna get into university.”

Changmin stares at him, incredulous. He knows that Yunho is a terrible liar (it’s almost sad, if it isn't so hilarious to see him try every single time), but this is a whole new level altogether. While Yunho's grades aren't as good as his, there’s never a doubt that both of them would make it to university. The same one, just like it’s always been. Even the very thought of being separated from the older boy makes his hackles rise. 

“Don't be ridiculous,” he snaps, no longer as playful. The hand on the chair moves to curve around the back of Yunho’s neck, rubbing lightly. “We’ll always be together, right?”

“Yeah, but you’re not helping,” says Yunho, becoming more and more agitated. “Unless you want us _ both _ to go to a crap university.”

Changmin is trying very, very hard not to roll his eyes, but it’s rapidly becoming a losing battle. “You can’t seriously think I’m going to let that happen.” He scoffs. “We’ll do _ fine_. Don't worry your pretty head over it, hyung.”

“Okay, well, do your part, then,” Yunho grumbles. He’s now a bit annoyed with himself as well as a bit upset. He wants to pout and sulk, but there’s no reason for him to.

It’s quite a conundrum.

Instead, he gets up from his chair. “I’m going to go see what Hojun hyung’s up to,” he declares.

Changmin instantly frowns once he hears the name and shifts to stand right in front of Yunho, blocking him from going any further. “You just saw him this morning.”

“I wanna see him again,” retorts Yunho.

“For _ what_?” Changmin still refuses to budge. “It’s not like he’d grown a couple new limbs since you last saw him.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know until I see him, would I?” says Yunho. He taps Changmin’s nose with his finger. _ Who’s jealous now? _

Changmin snaps his teeth at the finger, barely missing it on purpose. Yunho’s choice of… _ friends _ is a constant source of friction between them and while Changmin knows that he doesn't actually have any say in what Yunho considers to be his social circle, he’d like to think that it’s his responsibility to look out for his pack brother. This wouldn’t have been a problem _ at all _ if Yunho sticks to the status quo.

He crosses his arms. “I’ll come with you then.”

“What?” splutters Yunho. “You don’t even like him! You don’t even talk to him. In fact, you glare at him every time he walks by. He tells me it’s weird.”

“If he’d grown new limbs, I’d like to see that.” Changmin tilts his head, isn’t about to lose out. Especially now that he knows Hojun had complained about him to Yunho, that fucking tattletale. “For scientific purposes, of course.” 

“I swear, if you come, I’m going to tell Umma about all the —“ Yunho looks around to make sure no one’s eavesdropping on their conversation "—_porn _ you watch every night.”

It’s Changmin’s turn to splutter, the tips of his ears turning red as he stares at Yunho in horror. “Hyung, you _ wouldn't_—”

“I’ll tell _ Appa_,” threatens Yunho with a smirk.

Yunho takes in the sight of the younger who’s completely speechless and revels in it for a moment (it’s not often that Yunho wins one of these banters), then after a pat on Changmin’s shoulder, walks past him with an extra spring in his step.

Yunho checks in Hojun’s classroom first, but the classroom is already empty; they were probably let out early. He makes his way to the cafeteria, and among the sea of students, finds the familiar face among them. He makes their way towards them through the crowd towards Hojun and their friends, and as soon as Hojun notices, he waves Yunho over towards him with a smile.

“Yunho!” He shoves Yeonseok’s hand away from his bowl of tteokbokki and pats the chair closest to him. “Come sit next to your favourite hyung.” 

Yunho grins and slides his hand up and down Hojun’s arm a couple times, then sits down. “How was the morning?”

“Eh, same old, same old. Didn’t flunk my English test, so that’s good.” Hojun slings an arm around Yunho’s waist, squeezing lightly. The kid’s getting taller every day and before long, he’s going to have to look up to have a conversation. “You doing anything after this? Wanna join us at the karaoke? Dongho’s coming too.”

“Oh, man, I really want to, but —“ He looks around to see if Changmin’s around the cafeteria; he’s sitting four or five tables down, and not too surprisingly, he’s staring daggers at Yunho and Hojun’s general direction. Yunho smiles to see if Changmin will realize that Yunho noticed and would stop, but his face doesn’t change at all. Yunho turns towards Hojun again; this is certainly nothing new. “I promised Changmin I’d watch his swim practice.”

Hojun follows Yunho’s line of sight and almost groans when he realises what Yunho was looking at. He doesn’t know a lot of wolves personally (not for lack of trying) and while they did learn about the other kind in state-mandated classes back when they’re younger, he thinks that the relationship between Yunho and his adopted brother is sort of… odd. For one, he’s quite sure adopted brothers don’t get as territorial as Changmin does. 

Which is, again,_ odd_.

Yeonseok exchanges a look with Hojun, right before asking, “Why do you have to watch him practice? He’s not gonna drown. Didn’t he win, like, ten competitions last year?”

“Twelve,” corrects Yunho subconsciously. After he’s done that, he realizes that there’s more important things to clarify right now than Changmin’s swim record. He always looks for the most neutral, least aggressive ways to explain Changmin and his relationship with him to humans. He does know that, but he doesn’t exactly know why. 

“I know he’s not going to drown. It’s just the way we look out for each other. Just in case he needs me. And he does the same for me. And we don’t mean, like, anything by that, obviously,” clarifies Yunho quickly, just in case his human friends get the wrong idea. “It’s just for emotional support. We don’t shift in public, you know? Like, I haven’t shifted in months, basically. So there’s nothing for anyone to worry about. We’re like, basically human. We just have a closer bond with our family, that’s all.”

Yunho consciously chooses the word ‘family’ over ‘pack’ — better to use language that the humans are more familiar with.

Yeonseok nods, although he still looks unconvinced even after Yunho’s lengthy explanation. Hojun doesn’t blame him — it’s not the first time he’d heard Yunho defending Changmin’s less-than-friendly attitude and the whole overprotective schtick they’ve got going on. Coming from anyone else, the entire thing sounds slightly north than just a bit too defensive, but Hojun has known Yunho long enough to sense something else lurking underneath. It’s not his place to pry, though, so he settles on a hard pat on Yunho’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, but would it hurt him to stop glaring at us like we’re gonna smuggle you across the borders when he’s not looking?” It’s meant as a jest, but he’s belatedly reminded that wolf trafficking is an actual thing. He offers Yunho a wry, apologetic grin. “Y’know what I mean.”

“Yeah, no, totally,” says Yunho, raising his hands to show his complete agreement with Hojun. He really can’t think of a legitimate defence for that, though, so he just makes something up. “…It’s just the way his eyes — his eyes just look like that. He’s not glaring. You know how wolf eyes look scary sometimes when, you know, we’re just looking at something. But we’re not actually glaring.”

Yunho knows he’s probably not making sense, but he looks at Hojun expectantly like he should know exactly what he’s talking about.

That's the absolute most bullshit explanation Hojun had ever heard and he can already sense Yeonseok cracking up in front of them. Stifling his own laughter, Hojun scoots closer to Yunho, takes the younger boy's (tiny) face in his hands and peers at him closely. Makes thoughtful noises as he examines Yunho’s (unfairly small) face and squishes his cheeks, hard.

"You're a wolf and your eyes don't look scary at all." 

From somewhere beyond their table, there's a sound of muffled growling. Followed by rapid footsteps. Before Hojun even knows what's happening, Changmin is looming over them and he has a hand curled around Hojun’s wrist. Almost bruisingly tight. It takes his entire self-control not to grimace in pain, mostly for Yunho’s benefit.

“What the hell, man?” he says in greeting. And trying to surreptitiously yank his hand free because _ ow_. 

“Changmin, what are you doing?” says Yunho, horrified, and he slaps Changmin’s hand away from Hojun. He looks at Hojun and Yeonseok’s faces, to try to read what they might be thinking. Unfortunately, neither of them are smiling now, and Yunho feels his face growing hot. Why does Changmin always have to ruin everything, when Yunho was trying to convince his human friends that wolves were friendly and that there was nothing to worry about? “_ Stop _, you’re so embarrassing!”

In Changmin’s defence, it’s his instinct that propels him to cut across the distance and almost breaks Hojun’s wrist. And that only happens because he thinks that Yunho is in danger. From what, his rational mind is still trying to play catch-up but it’s getting there and he’ll come up with a reasonable excuse that would explain why he’d invited himself, in a rather violent fashion, to join their little lunch gathering. Unfortunately, this process is interrupted by the slap on his hand, which is not as painful as the appalled look on Yunho’s face. Changmin winces.

Okay. Maybe he’d overreacted. It happens. Sometimes. With _ reasons_!

He glances at Yunho’s human friends, who are looking at him like he’d gone feral on them, and attempts to appear unperturbed by Yunho’s reprimand. Like he’s a disobedient cub who’d just peed the floor or something. “He was hurting you.”

Yunho rolls his eyes and shoves Changmin away. “He wasn’t hurting me at all. You’re the one hurting him. Now go sit with your friends,” he hisses.

The shove does little in making Changmin budge. If anything, it only solidifies his resolve to not go away. "I should stay," he says, dragging out a chair. He turns to Yunho's friends and bares his teeth into something that looks vaguely like a smile. But sharper. "And apologise. Right, _ hyung-deul_?"

Hojun rubs at his wrist, eyes flickering from Yunho to Changmin, and then to Yeonseok. Who shrugs, trying to play it cool but looks reluctant as hell and that's generally Hojun's stand when it comes to anything that has something to do with Yunho's kid brother. Changmin may be raised in the same family, but he's world's apart from Yunho.

"We're good." Hojun waves at him, keeps his voice light and friendly. "You don't need to apologise."

“See? Just go,” says Yunho, giving Changmin another shove, harder this time.

Changmin grunts at the force of it. His expression flattens, not liking this one single bit, but he'd run out of excuses to use. He also knows that Yunho is at the limit of his patience and if he continues insisting, this argument is not going to end well. For him. Yunho might be offensively bright and cheerful most of the time, but he has a cold streak of temper lurking behind that sunny disposition. 

"_ Fine. _" Changmin nods, far from sincere. He turns to Yunho to address him, and only him, when he says, "I'll see you at the pool."

Yunho glares. “Actually, I’m going to hang out with these guys after school. I’ll see you at home.”

Changmin stiffens. “Wha—? Hyung, you said you’re—”

“This is what happens when you behave like this,” he growls. “Go _ away_, Shim Changmin.”

Hojun watches the scene with rapt attention (while trying to be as inconspicuous as possible without actually going into hiding) and he can see the tight curl of Changmin’s fists, how his nose flares as if he’s about to extend the argument. It almost looks like a lover’s tiff, only… well, between brothers. Changmin, however, doesn’t say anything else. He simply turns and stalks off, even ditching his own friends as he disappears round the bend. Hojun shares another look with Yeonseok, before nudging a shoulder into Yunho. 

“Hey,” he starts, not liking how tense Yunho looks. “Are you and your baby bro gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” says Yunho, waving away the concern. “I’m going to have a chat with him about it tonight.”

Hojun still looks a bit apprehensive, though, and Yunho bites his lip. He’s lucky that Hojun, after so many years, is understanding when something like this happens, but Changmin’s going to get into trouble one of these days if he keeps acting so aggressively towards the humans. Yunho’s doing all that he possibly can to show them that wolves are not threatening, but Changmin just keeps proving him wrong, and it’s honestly getting a bit ridiculous.

“Um… are you okay?” asks Yunho meekly. “I’m really sorry about that. He should know better.”

Hojun flexes his wrist and grins, making a show out of it. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

It's a good thing the shirt he's wearing is long enough to cover the place where Changmin had grabbed. He can't be sure it's badly-bruised, but the dull ache radiating from the spot tells him that he's gonna have to ice it later. He wasn’t expecting to be roughed up by a territorial wolf, but it seems like it’s possibly going to happen again in the near future. Maybe he should start carrying a numbing cream. Or pepper spray. Although that’s not going to end well for everyone involved.

Yeonseok drums his fingers on the table, studying Yunho intently. “What’s up with your bro, anyway? He doesn’t like us? Or just human in general?”

Yunho pulls his lips between his teeth. It’s such a complicated story, Yunho doesn’t even know where to begin. “It has nothing to do with you,” says Yunho apologetically. “It’s just… when we were younger, there have been some… incidents of human children hurting the two of us. So that’s why he’s overprotective of me when I’m around humans. I think.”

Yunho notices his hand shaking slightly still as he talks about it. He has to take a deep breath to dispel the feeling of nausea that overcomes him. “He’s actually a really sweet kid, I promise. And he’s never bitten anyone since he was, like, _ that _big.” Yunho places his hands pretty close to each other to describe the size of tiny, tiny Changmin at the time. And he had even tinier teeth, though he remembers how hard Changmin had bitten, for Yunho’s sake. “And he only did that because… it was a really horrible thing that happened to us.”

After rehashing the story, Yunho feels a bit sorry to Changmin for how he treated him just now, because he knows Changmin’s doing it just to protect him. He looks over to see if Changmin’s still in the cafeteria, but it seems like he’s left. Yunho lets out a sigh.

Both Hojun and Yeonseok grow silent as they digest this new piece of information, a sliver of personal history shared by Yunho. Hojun is raised in an all-human neighbourhood and he didn’t encounter his first wolf until he was thirteen. He remembers the girl though — she looked just like the others, but there’s some kind of wariness in her that made her keep to herself, even after their teachers tried to include her in projects and classroom activities. He hadn’t befriended her back then and they parted ways once moved into different high schools, though he now wishes that he had. Maybe he’d be able to understand where Changmin’s coming from a little bit better.

Even though it’s very hard to imagine the other boy being as tiny and sweet as Yunho had described.

“But you turn out okay, right?” Hojun wraps his arm around Yunho’s shoulder, pulling him close. “You’ve got no problem being friends with us.” He purses his lips. “Maybe… we should ask him if he wanna hang out? He’ll see that we’re not as terrible as he thinks we are.”

“Oh, no, no,” says Yunho quickly. “I think he should just hang out with his wolf friends.”

Honestly, Yunho thinks Changmin should stay away from humans, where he’s going to be safe. With a pang of guilt, he realizes that that’s probably how Changmin feels about Yunho and his human friends.

Hojun raises his eyebrows at the protest. “Dude, I thought it’s gonna help him with his, y’know, hostility thing towards us?”

“Yeah, but… at this point, let me just talk to him,” dissuades Yunho. “I mean… it would help, but it will be a _ very _painful first few hangouts. We don’t have to put ourselves through that.”

Yeonseok nods emphatically before Hojun can open his mouth and says, “I agree!” He jumps to his feet, exclaiming, “And I’m starving, so the last one to the line’s buying us all lunch!”

Before taking off like a bat right out of hell, the sneaky asshole.

.

**tbc**

.


	4. Chapter 4

.

Changmin toes open the front door with a mumbled ‘_I’m home_’ and bends down to take his shoes off, stifling a groan as his muscles screams at him. His entire body hurts from the laps he did, more than what his coach had asked and he’d continued well after practice was done. It’s a good outlet for his frustration, but it comes with a hefty price. There’s no doubt he’s going to feel sore for the next few days. He notices that Yunho’s shoes are still missing and his eyes narrow, staring at the empty space like it had personally offended him. 

"Where's your brother?" comes Mihyun's voice from the living room, where she's watching the latest episode of Running Man with Jihye. He pads inside, heading straight for the stairs. "I thought you're coming home together?"

He'd like to be able to answer the question with a very pointed '_how should I know, I'm not his keeper_', but it's Mihyun who's asking and Changmin has an ingrained love and respect for his adopted mother that makes it impossible for him to say anything offensive to her. She's also the one who feeds him, so he'd learnt to always be in her good book. 

“With his friends,” he spits out, the words tasting like rocks inside his mouth. It’s still a sore spot, festering inside his chest when he thinks about how Yunho had ditched him to go out with those humans. He starts climbing, practically dragging himself up. “I’m gonna nap.”

Their rooms are still next to each other, unchanging since the first day that Changmin had arrived at the Jung household. Not that the wall between them matters. They spend most of their time together in either of the rooms, whether doing their school works or reading comic books or sleeping. He stops in front of Yunho’s room, bangs his head on the door once and then opens it up. Yunho is, of course, not there, but Changmin can smell him _everywhere_. He places his bag on the chair, takes off his uniform and shifts. Jumps onto the bed and burrows into the blanket, chasing after that warm, comforting scent. 

Just so he can forget how angry Yunho had been with him. 

Yunho gets home a little later. It was a fun time with his friends, but he had a sliver of guilt and worry for his little brother the entire time, so when they asked him to stay with them for dinner as well, Yunho informed them that he had to get home. As he kicks off his shoes at the door, his mother, as always, reminds him to put the shoes away properly from the kitchen, where she's cooking with Yanghyun.

"Why are you so late?" she clucks as Yunho walks by the kitchen. Yunho grins apologetically at her, and it's clear that she doesn't actually want to know the answer. "Get changed and come down for dinner with your siblings."

Yunho replies with a bright, "Yes, Umma," just relieved that she didn't make this into a bigger deal, and runs upstairs to his room.

He bursts open the door to his bedroom, and is actually a bit surprised to see the grey wolf lying on his bed, wrapped in the blankets; Yunho had thought that Changmin might be mad at him for earlier, and would want some time away from him. Changmin raises his head to look at Yunho as Yunho walks in the room, trying to be as natural as possible.

Yunho starts to change, and he glances at Changmin as he does. "Umma wants us downstairs for dinner."

“_You’re late_,” Changmin grumbles, laying his head on his front paws as he watches Yunho change. “_Where did you go?_”

“Karaoke,” replies Yunho, turned away from Changmin. He grabs a loose T-shirt from his dresser.

A semi-dark room surrounded by humans — Changmin growls quietly, doesn’t even bother to hide his displeasure at the answer. He jumps out of the bed and goes to wind himself around Yunho, almost coming up to the older boy’s waist now that he’s older and bigger. He pushes his head against Yunho’s hand, nosing at the soft skin of his palm.

“_You_ _left me_,” he whines. It’s nothing accusatory, just an extension of the hurt from before.

Yunho hesitates. He finishes putting on the shirt, and Changmin rubs up against his thigh with a whine. His nose tickles Yunho's palm, and Changmin positions himself so that Yunho has no choice but to slide his hand over Changmin's head.

He doesn't really know what to say; his emotions are a combination of desperation and guilt. "…Why are you being so aggressive today? Is your rut coming up or something?"

Changmin snorts. One of the least fun things about being an alpha is that he has to keep track of his rut cycle, so that it doesn’t catch him unaware and result in very unfortunate incidences that tend to happen in public. He’d presented in middle school and Yanghyun made sure that he’s fully educated about his responsibility as an alpha. To others and especially, to himself. There’s enough stereotype about alphas being nothing more than horny knotheads going around in mainstream entertainment without him throwing himself to that deep end. Still isn’t as bad as the kind of demeaning prejudice omegas are subjected to, so Changmin counts himself lucky in that regard. He’s also pretty sure he still have a month to go before his next rut and the mere mention of it makes him more than just slightly irritated.

_“No._” He shakes his head, dislodging Yunho’s hand. “_You know I would’ve told you._”

"Mm," says Yunho, still trying not to look at Changmin. “One of these days, we're gonna have to get an omega for you to obsess over, so people will actually get it. It's just weird in other people's eyes that you're so aggressive over me when I'm a beta."

It’s always been obvious that Yunho is a beta, especially after his growth spurt makes it pretty apparent that he is too tall and built to be an omega, even if they didn't take into account the fact that male omegas are exceedingly rare. And even at a young age, it was clear (especially with Changmin right there as comparison) that he is not an alpha. Their temperaments are too different, with Yunho significantly more diplomatic and friendlier towards others. It’s one of the reasons why he’s so popular at school — bright, outgoing Jung Yunho, who knows everyone.

That’s why the accepted fact of Yunho _not_ being an omega is at odds with Changmin’s protectiveness.

A running joke in the pack is that the only way to keep an alpha in line is to get them an omega — it's a joke because nobody really believes it. There’s nothing quite as dangerous as a territorial alpha where his mate is concerned, although an alpha-omega couple is also the most enduring. Changmin doesn’t really care for the statistics; he’d already decided to follow his heart when it comes to choosing his life partner and he definitely won’t be deferring to his biology. Shaking his head again to signal that he disagrees with that statement, he stands on his hind legs and props himself up against Yunho’s chest. 

“_Hyung, why does it matter if you’re a beta or whatever — you’re family, aren’t you._“ There’s no humour in his eyes, just stripped-down earnestness to reflect the gravity of the moment. “_You know I’m doing this because I want to keep you safe, right_?”

“I know,” Yunho sighs. “But no one was attacking me.” Yunho can’t ignore the prickly feeling in his chest anymore as Changmin paws at him, and he reaches out and embraces the younger. He then plants a kiss on Changmin’s nose. 

Changmin licks at Yunho’s mouth, rough tongue scraping at the pillowy softness of those lips before he drops to all four again. It’s enough, for now, and Changmin nudges at Yunho’s thigh to hurry him along. “_C’mon, hyung! You kept me waiting for so long I’m about to gnaw my leg off!”_

Yunho chuckles at the way Changmin gets his life back after just one kiss (it’s hard to believe that this is the same boy who was ailing on Yunho’s bed just a couple minutes ago), and opens the door again to let Changmin out and bound downstairs happily ahead of Yunho. On the way out, Yunho knocks on Jihye’s door. “Jihye, dinner.”

She sticks her head out and when she sees that it’s Yunho, she grabs his forearm. And drags him inside her room, slamming the door close behind them. Her face is pulled into a grave expression as she stares at him, arms crossed. 

“Oppa, I didn’t want to do this, but I have to ask you something.”

Yunho looks at Jihye and frowns, worried. “What’s wrong?”

Her mouth thins into a tight, pinched line. “Some of my friends, they said—” She pauses, hesitates. But true to how stubborn she can be, Jihye forces on, “—that you and Changmin-oppa are…" 

She trails off, looking a bit perturbed, but determined that her brother would find the rest of the sentence self-explanatory. 

“Are…?” asks Yunho with a frown, because he actually has no idea what she’s talking about.

“You know!” She huffs impatiently. But once it’s clear that Yunho is still in the dark, Jihye rolls her eyes and lowers her voice. “_Dating_.”

Yunho freezes, forgets to even blink. _What?_

His mouth has fallen open but he can’t seem to close it. He just stares at Jihye until their mother yells from downstairs, “Yunho! Jihye! Dinner!”

“What — What did you tell them?” he splutters.

Jihye rolls her eyes again. As a teenage girl, she has an infinite number of eye-rolls in her repertoire. It’s like exercise, but better because it doesn’t involve sweating. “That it’s none of their business. They’re not even part of the pack. Well, Hana is, but she’s a _baby_.” She squints at him, a calculating glint in her eyes that’s more Changmin than anything else. “So. _Are you_?”

Yunho just stares at her, lost for words.

_What. Even._

He just stares at her silently for a while, then when he speaks, he notices that his voice cracks. “We have to go downstairs for dinner.”

His hand finds the doorknob and he turns it, and feeling his face flush for whatever reason, and manages to walk down the entire staircase to the dining table without falling down, which is a feat of its own.

Changmin is already at the table, helping himself to his second grilled mackerel when he hears Yunho coming down, followed by Jihye’s much louder footsteps. He looks up to see the older boy’s reddened cheeks. And his sister’s smug expression, which somehow becomes even more smug when she catches his eyes. Once Yunho is seated next to him, Changmin pokes at his side.

“What happened?”

Yunho jumps at the sudden touch, and looks at Changmin, round-eyed. “What? Nothing.”

_Oh my god, Changmin, please, not at the dinner table._

Undeterred by the answer, because it’s obviously not nothing from Yunho’s reaction alone, Changmin wheels around to Jihye and points his chopsticks at her. “What happened?”

Jihye flutters her eyelashes at him. “Ask Yunho-oppa.”

Yanghyun and Mihyun, who were discussing his work with a non-profit just moments ago, are now listening in as well. 

Yunho shoots Jihye a look of _What the hell, I can’t believe you would do this to me_, and clenching his teeth and face still burning, reaches for a piece of mackerel as if nothing happened. Or is happening.

Changmin opens his mouth to repeat the question, annoyed that they’re sharing a secret he’s not privy of, when Jihye beats him to it. “One of my friends told me she likes Yunho-oppa. She wants to know if he has a girlfriend.”

Yanghyun bursts into laughter, as does Mihyun. Although hers is a lot quieter than her husband’s and it tapers off into chuckles as she raises her eyebrows at her oldest son. “You’re seeing someone, Yunho? How come this is the first time we’ve heard about it?”

“No! No. I’m not seeing anyone. This is also the first time I’m hearing about it,” croaks out Yunho. He then widens his eyes. “I mean — when Jihye told me just now. Upstairs. _That_ was the first time I heard about it. This is the second time I’m hearing about it now. I mean, _now_ is the second time—“

_Oh my God, someone stop me_.

Yunho closes his mouth. Why did God have to make him such a bad liar?

Changmin hasn’t heard anything past '_Yunho_' and '_girlfriend_'. He’s clenching his chopsticks so hard they’re threatening to snap, but his voice is deceptively calm when he says, “You’re _interested_ in someone, hyung?”

Yunho sees Jihye look at both of them with her eyebrow raised, and Yunho panics even more. How in the world is he going to explain this to Changmin, but then also, how is he going to explain Changmin’s reaction to Jihye? His thoughts are going so fast he can’t even get any words out of his mouth. He’s just frozen in space, just trying to decide what to say or do, when his mother finally comes to his rescue.

“Now, now, Changmin, stop teasing your hyung,” she says, but looking amused all the same.

Yanghyun pats Yunho’s shoulder, mouth curling into a grin. “It’s about time you bring someone home, son. A girl or—” He winks at Mihyun, the grin turning wolfish. “—a boy, doesn’t matter. We’re very cool parents.” 

Yunho drops his chopsticks on the table and runs his hand over his face, nothing short of absolutely horrified by the world’s most embarrassing father. Were his ears hearing right? What did he do to deserve this? Was this punishment for how he treated Changmin today? Speaking of Changmin — 

Yunho looks over to his other side, where Changmin is looking at him, stone-faced, not a single readable expression on his face — but Yunho doesn’t miss Changmin’s white fingers around his chopsticks.

“You will all be the first to know if I start seeing someone,” manages Yunho. Suddenly, he has no appetite. “Can I — Can I go to my room?” he asks weakly.

Mihyun’s face instantly shifts to concern. “Are you okay, dear? You barely touched your food.”

“Yes! Yes,” says Yunho, forcing himself into to laugh, but it sounds really awkward, even to Yunho’s ears. “I am just _peachy_. Now, if I may be excused—“

He stands, scans the faces at the table one last time — his mother’s concerned face, father’s expectant smile, Jihye looking like she’s trying not to burst out into laughter, and Changmin’s glinting, darkly expressionless eyes fixated on Yunho. Yunho laughs awkwardly one more time before turning and practically running up to his room, slamming the door behind him.

He goes straight to his bed, gets under his blanket and kicks at his blanket in pure embarrassment. He actually has to bite his tongue not to scream out loud.

A kind of strained silence descends onto their little dinner party after Yunho's departure and Yanghyun's smile slowly slides into confusion. He turns to his wife, feeling like he'd missed out on a monumental part of the conversation that just took place. “What happened? Was it something I said?”

Mihyun draws in a breath, then looking at her mate as if she feels sorry for him, just pats him on the back. “We’ll talk about it later, honey.”

Yanghyun mutters something about being a 'cool dad' again, but goes back to his dinner obediently. Changmin slowly unclenches his fingers from where they’re curled around the chopsticks, aware that his appetite is also gone. But it’s not like he can just storm off like Yunho did — it would tip their parents off that something is wrong and he doesn’t want that. Besides, Jihye is watching him with an odd gleam in her eyes, the same kind of look she would’ve worn if they’re out hunting in the woods. 

Changmin, taller and more muscular than his pack sister by _a lot_, feels like a fat, unsuspecting pheasant being stalked by a hungry wolf. 

That’s how he forces himself to shovel the rest of the fish into his gullets while tasting none of it, endures Yanghyun’s questions about school and Mihyun’s gentle prodding about his own love life, and then is conned into doing the dishes by Jihye, who claims that she has _so_ much homework to do and she’s not as smart as her brother so can she _please_ go upstairs to start on them now? He’s elbows deep in suds before he even realises what’s happening, as his adopted parents leaves him to cuddle in front of the television. Changmin suspects Mihyun is still trying to distract her husband from asking too many questions about Yunho’s abrupt escape from dinner. 

Once he’d dried every single plate, Changmin runs upstairs. 

And throws open the door to Yunho’s room, before catching himself in time to stop him from slamming it close. There’s a Yunho-shaped lump on the bed, but it doesn’t move except for the faint rise and fall that typically signifies breathing.

Which is good. Changmin needs the older boy to be breathing for this.

“I know you’re not asleep,” he growls, stalking nearer.

Yunho pretends not to hear Changmin. Still pretends to be sleeping. _Lord, have mercy_.

“_Hyung_.” Changmin stands over the bed, arms crossed. When that gets him nothing, he grabs a handful of the blanket and rips it away. Before climbing into bed, bracing his arms over Yunho’s shoulders and his legs at Yunho’s hips. Looking down at him, eyes flashing golden in the semi-darkness of the room. “Hyung, we need to _talk._” 

Yunho has his hands over his face — maybe if he keeps them covered for long enough, this situation would actually disappear — but soon, he feels them being pulled away by Changmin’s strong grip, and he’s now looking right into Changmin’s face.

“Oh,” he says, smiling feebly. “Hi, Changmin.”

“Hi, Yunho-hyung,” he parrots, a touch mockingly. There’s nothing on Yunho’s face that shows he wants any part of the conversation they’re about to have, but Changmin knows better. And since hovering can be quite a difficult position for important discussions, he leans back so he can straddle Yunho’s hips. Much better leverage. “So.” He pauses pointedly. His jaw clenches. And then unclenches again. “Was it true? What Jihye said?”

Yunho whimpers, because they need to talk about what just transpired, but it would be _very _weird if Yunho said, while Changmin currently straddles him, _No, but Jihye's classmates think we're dating._

So instead, Yunho covers his face with his hands again. "Can you just sit down, like a normal person, and I'll sit up too, and we can talk like normal people," Yunho says, voice muffled.

“I’m comfortable,” Changmin says, because he is. _Very_ comfortable. And now he’s peeling off Yunho’s hands from his face again, pinning them each to one side. The whole hide-and-seek thing is getting old and he’s too impatient to let Yunho dictate how they’re doing this. His voice drops into a low growl that echoes in the thick tension that’s starting to smother them. “Did you really tell her you have a girlfriend?”

"That's not even what she said," grunts Yunho. "She told me something else, but this conversation is about to get _really weird _if we stay in this position."

Changmin, true to character, still refuses to budge. “Try me.”

Yunho whimpers. And this time, he can't even hide behind his hands. So just with his eyes tightly shut closed, he takes a deep breath, and deciding that he just needs to get this over with, he mumbles very quickly, "Jihye'sfriendsthinkwe'redating."

He feels his face grow hot again — this might be the worst kind of torture to ever exist. He's not brave enough to open his eyes. 

Of all the things Changmin had expected to hear _that_... is not it. Not even in the same goddamn ballpark. Or solar system. Externally, he’d frozen up. All his extremities just sort of… stiffen and refuse to respond to his brain, as if each and every one of them had been completely disconnected from the central processing system. They’ve now gone incommunicado. That’s why he’s still pinning Yunho’s hands to the mattress. Still straddling him. While internally—

—well. Internally, he’s going DEFCON 1. 

_Jihye’s friends think we’re dating_.

First of all, _what the actual fuck._ Since when did Jihye's friends graduate from playing with dolls and braiding each other’s hair to sticking their collective noses into _shit that is none of their fucking business_. Secondly, are teenage girls psychic because Changmin is suddenly very concerned about the possibility of his female classmates picking up the kind of things he’s broadcasting when he’s bored during lessons and he has nothing better to do than think about… uh. _Stuff_. Harmless, mostly, but he’s a teenage boy! With urges! And unsupervised access to the Internet!

Thirdly (and most importantly), _why would they think he’s dating Yunho_. 

He looks down at the older boy. His face feels like plastic but after some careful rearranging, he manages what he thinks is a frown.

“Why would they think we’re… _dating_?”

Even when he’s asking the question, it feels like his voice is coming from somewhere far, far away. 

Yunho just whimpers again in despair and doesn’t answer the question, because how should he know? All he knows is that he’s so embarrassed he can’t even open his eyes, and his cheeks feel like they’re going to burst into flames any time now.

Yunho’s refusal to give any kind of explanation or even look at Changmin means that the very idea must not have sat well with him. 

As if Changmin isn’t good enough to be his not-even-boyfriend.

Which is… wow. Offensive. 

It’s not like he’s trying to blow his own horn, but he is _absolutely_ The Best Kind of Boyfriend Material. We’re talking Grade A Prime Beef here, straight up Japanese Wagyu. He permanently resides in the top ten after every exam, is the crown jewel of the school’s swim team and considers himself above average when it comes to his looks. He wouldn’t use the word ‘stunning’ per se, but he’d received Valentines with proses extolling his many physical virtues and it’s very hard to argue with that kind of statistics. 

But apparently, _Yunho_ doesn’t think so.

Changmin’s face rearranges itself into a displeased pout. He lets go of Yunho’s hands, but makes no move to climb off of the older boy. 

“I bet I’d make a _great_ boyfriend.”

Yunho covers his face again with his hands, and starts making sobbing noises, and he doesn’t know why, really — except that he’s just so, so embarrassed. And what exactly is he embarrassed about, that he isn’t sure either, but he can’t even talk right now. Not with Changmin looking at him from on top of him like that.

Changmin finds himself snapping out of the many iterations of exactly How He Is The Best Boyfriend To Have Ever Boyfriended when he hears Yunho sobbing, the sound as loud as gunshot in the otherwise quiet room. He finally scrambles off and kneels at the side of the bed, one hand tentatively shaking Yunho’s shoulder.

“Hyung? Hey, hyung? Are you— are you okay?” A whine slips through his downturned lips, almost like the sound his wolf would’ve made if he’s in distress. “Are you crying? Please don’t cry…”

Yunho sits up quickly now that he’s free from Changmin’s hold, but doesn’t move his hands away from his face. “I’m not crying,” he clarifies. He briefly takes one hand away from his face to pull the blanket on top of him again. He takes a deep breath, but as he does so, another wave of embarrassment hits him, and he turns to Changmin to say, “See, this is what happens when you attack people just for touching me! People think we’re _dating_!”

“I didn’t _attack _them,” Changmin grumbles, disgruntled at the sheer injustice of that statement. The frantic worry that’s twisting his insides eases off for a bit, although it’s not entirely gone. He peers at Yunho’s face to make sure that the older boy really is not crying because if he did make Yunho cry, he doesn’t even know how he can live with that knowledge. Changmin draws nonsensical patterns on the blanket, just tracing out shapes with his fingers as he pouts at Yunho. “So what if they think we’re dating?”

Yunho almost chokes. “Yeah, I mean, I guess it’s better than people thinking Jihye and I are dating.” He pulls the blanket up to just below his eyes.

_That_ is something Changmin would like to be scrubbed from his brain. He instantly shifts, lifting the edge of the blanket with his snout and, using a very ancient and effective wolf technique called wriggling non-stop, he burrows his way under the blanket. And drapes all hundred twenty pounds of him over Yunho, like a very furry, very warm second blanket. His head wriggles its way to rest on Yunho’s chest, nose tucked into the underside of Yunho’s jaw. 

Changmin makes the most pitiful noise he can muster.

“_You can’t date anyone, hyung._ ”

Yunho wraps his arms around Changmin, because this is very natural now with C hangmin being in wolf, but Yunho pretends he suddenly can’t understand wolfspeak. He doesn’t even ask why he’s not allowed to date. He just pats Changmin, feeling the soft fur between his fingers and his ribs underneath.

Changmin, undeterred by the lack of response, nips at Yunho’s fingers. “_Hyung! Promise me!_”

Yunho takes a deep breath. “I swear I’m going to kick you out of my room if you speak of this one. More. Time,” threatens Yunho, avoiding the question altogether. Not that he wants to date anyone else, but it just feels _way_ too weird right now. “And you better deal with this at school, and make it clear to everyone that no, we’re not dating.”

Turnabout's a fair play so Changmin nuzzles Yunho's neck, murmurs, "_Yeah, yeah. I'll make it clear to everyone that we're dating,_" and promptly feigns sleeping. Like a log. Deader than dead. 

Yunho nods blankly at first, and then registering what he actually said, he stops stroking Changmin and sits up. “Okay, that’s it,” he declares, pushing the heavy animal off his bed. “Out. _Out_!”

Changmin had grown up very small for his age, so he'd learnt early on to fight dirty. He latches on Yunho's shoulders, hind legs hooked around Yunho's calves. If he's getting pushed out of bed, Yunho's rolling out of it with him. He shoves his face further into the crook of that long, slender neck and starts licking at all of Yunho's ticklish spots.

“Shim Changmin, out!” shouts Yunho, now on the floor, wrestling the large wolf, while trying to shield himself from the tickle attacks at the same time. Yunho briefly considers shifting, since his wolf is somehow still bigger than Changmin’s, but decides against it. Instead, he pulls his last card.“_Umma_!”

There's a half-second of stillness, Changmin stopping in the middle of mauling the older boy to listen for Mihyun's footsteps because _goddamnit_, trust Yunho to fight even dirtier. When he hears nothing yet, he gives himself another five minutes before all hell breaks loose and grins down at Yunho with all teeth. 

"_You can't get rid of me that easily, hyung~_ " 

He pounces harder, using his bulk to pin Yunho to the floor so he can nibble on Yunho's ear. 

“This! Is not helping!” shouts Yunho, trying to push Changmin off, but Changmin’s still licking nonstop. He is still trying to struggle himself free when he gets a view of the door. He does a double take when he realizes that it’s open. And from the floor, he also gets a view of the feet. He slowly looks up to see his sister at the doorway with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

“Oh,” Yunho says. Changmin still hasn’t noticed, so he’s still showering Yunho’s ear with kisses, even while Yunho is trying to steel his expression. "Jihye. Hi."

Changmin raises his head when Yunho stops struggling, glancing at the door only to see Jihye standing there. Watching them. Looking somewhat judgmental, like she hadn’t rolled around with her brothers and kicked them in the nuts on several memorable occasions when they were still raucous cubs. 

“_What?_” He barks out, pressing down both of his front legs on Yunho’s chest to keep him in place. “_You wanna join in?_”

Jihye wrinkles her nose as if he’d just offered her roadkill. Instead of replying to Changmin, she’s clearly addressing Yunho when she says, matter-of-factly, “You have to set this straight, oppa.” Her eyes glint, giving way to that wicked-sharp humour she must’ve inherited from some kind of a demonic entity summoned from the depths of Hell. “Or not straight. Whichever you are.”

Yunho reaches for the closest thing he can reach for on the floor — it happens to be his uniform shirt — and he flings it at Jihye, hard. “How about helping me from this wolf attack, Jihye? Huh? You’re just going to stand there and watch your big brother being mauled to death by this giant grey wolf?”

The uniform misses her by inches as she continues staring at the tangled bodies of her brother, still looking mightily unimpressed. Both by Yunho’s desperate appeal and the sight of Changmin resuming his supposed-mauling, deadly teeth nipping playfully at Yunho’s neck and ears. 

“Of course I’ll help you,” she drawls out, taking out her phone from the pocket of her shorts. She takes a step closer into the room, raises the phone and starts snapping pictures. “I think my friends would actually pay money to see this.”

“Jung Jihye!” shouts Yunho on the top of his lungs. Yunho grabs more things and flings them, none of which hit Jihye. This is _unfair_, he’s supposed to be the oldest, why do his younger siblings think it’s okay to gang up on him like this? “Stop, both of you!”

Of course, nobody actually listens to him and it takes Mihyun’s arrival for the commotion to stop. Her eyes sweep over the scattered clothes and soft toys on the floor, right up to where Yunho is still entangled with Changmin’s grey, lupine form. Jihye is standing almost halfway behind the door and whenever she tries to look as innocent as what she’s doing right now, that’s pretty much a guarantee that her little girl is up to mischief. 

Mihyun decides that she doesn’t want to know.

“Aren’t you supposed to be working on your homework, boys?” she says, tapping her foot expectantly. “And you too, Jihye?”

Sometimes, it’s very hard to remember that they’re no longer cubs when they keep acting like this. 

Jihye, the smartest out of the three, chirps her agreement and disappears in record time. 

“_Yes_,” says Yunho, grateful for her mother showing up exactly the right time, and finally managing to push Changmin off. “We are supposed to be doing our homework. _In our own rooms_. _Alone_.”

Changmin’s already shifting back at the end of that sentence and he’s quick to shake his head at Mihyun, says, “Hyung didn’t take half of the notes in our History class because he was falling asleep! And the teacher said I have to help him with the quiz we’re doing next week.” 

“That is a complete _lie_,” says Yunho defensively. "I am an excellent student, thank you, I don’t need Changmin’s help studying!”

Changmin crosses his arms and levels Yunho what can only be described as an ‘_uh huh pull the other one_’ look. “What were the two opposing alliances in the Second World War?”

Yunho hesitates for one second, then he looks up at his mother, pleading for help. “I would know if Changmin would just leave me alone to study! _Alone_!"

Mihyun sighs. Yanghyun is waiting for her downstairs and she’d rather cuddle with her mate than trying to figure out what kind of argument her boys have gotten into this time. She really misses those two little cubs who were so inseparable, they used to sleep in the same bed every single night. Those tiny paws and feet and all the nose scrunches and chubby cheeks. _God_, they were such cute things. Now, she has squabbling teenagers on her hands and they’re not even adorable enough anymore to make this all worth it. 

“Changmin, please leave your brother to his revision so he can do his best for the quiz,” Mihyun says, with all the zen of a teacup teetering on the edge of a very high table. Changmin opens his mouth to argue, thinks better of it and only looks slightly grumpy as he slinks out of the room. She frowns at an upturned giraffe near her ankle. “And Yunho, I expect you to study _and_ clean your room before going to bed. If you need any reference to the aftermath of a war, you can just look around.”

Yunho nods gratefully, swallowing back the words, it was _a war_, and finally gets to his feet. He’s so tired after all that roughing around that he’s already feeling sleepy, but at least he’s no longer being actively attacked. He winces at the soreness in his ribs, where Changmin had been pushing him down earlier. He’s getting too old for this.

“Maybe it’s time you boys stop roughing around,” says Mihyun as Yunho rubs his side.

“Tell that to Changmin,” grunts Yunho. He finally manages to get in the chair at his desk. He winces again. “_Ow_.”

Picking her way around the disaster zone, Mihyun moves to get a closer look at her oldest son. From the way he sounds, it’s like he’d actually been attacked and she doubts that Changmin would even consider doing so. Much less carry it out. She runs her fingers through Yunho’s hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. “Did you get into another fight with Changmin?”

Yunho shakes his head. “No. Not a real one. He’s just getting really strong. And he doesn’t listen to me. Like, at all.”

“You could’ve shifted too,” Mihyun points out, gently. It’s a topic she’d wanted to broach for a while, but it never seemed to be the right time. Perhaps now it is. She strokes his head, doesn’t miss how he’d tensed ever so slightly, but continues doing so to show him that she’s not upset. Or angry. “Yunho, is there something that’s bothering you?” Her voice softens even further, coaxing him to open up. He’s growing into the promise of a fine, young wolf any parent would be proud of, but what worries Mihyun is his tendency to keep things to himself. “You know you can always talk to me or your father, right?”

His mother’s gentle questioning hits a sore spot, and Yunho feels shame and the intense feeling of _I don’t belong_ engulf him. Even his parents noticed — it won’t be long now until they realize what a disappointment he is, and probably decide that he shouldn’t stay in the pack. He feels his eyes welling up with tears almost immediately, but he shakes his head. He tries to angle his head so that his mother won’t be able to see the tears that are threatening to fall.

“Yunho?” She goes to her knees, even more worried now that he’s angling away from her. Unease scratches the length of her spine, pooling in the pit of her stomach — if it’s affecting him this much, she should’ve spoken to him sooner. She shouldn’t have waited. Her hand cups the soft curve of his jaw, thumb rubbing at his cheek as she tries to get him to look at her again. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Yunho so desperately wants his mother’s comfort and reassurance, but he doesn’t want to take the risk — he’d rather just leave things the way they are than to risk being disowned, or being removed from the pack. It’s too devastating to even think about. The tears fall, and now his mother knows for sure, because they fall onto her hand. He curls his fingers around his shirt and just puts his head down.

After a while, he manages to say, his voice thick with tears, “I’m okay.”

The wetness seeping into her skin tells Mihyun otherwise, and that those tears come from somewhere deeper and darker inside Yunho than what he’s willing to show her. It’s a trait she recognises in her own husband — this unwillingness to bare their throats, mistaking vulnerability for weakness, even to their own pack. It’s not an attitude she would allow her children to cultivate, not if she can help it. Mihyun scoots closer to Yunho, both her hands cupping his face now and using that to anchor him to her. 

“No, you’re not,” she says, looking up at him. The tenderness is still there, but it’s tempered by steel. Her thumb swipes at the streak of tears wetting his cheek and her heart clenches, hurting for him. “You’re not okay.”

The warmth and care in his mother’s voice and her proximity — and the fact that he no longer has to hide his tears makes him start to cry more openly. He hasn’t cried like this in a very long time, but he’s grateful for the comfort that she gives him even if she doesn’t know what’s happening. She wraps her arms around him and holds him close. For the first time in a very long time, he feels infinitely safe in his mother’s embrace. 

It’s the weight of his grief that surprises her and how small he feels in her arms, even after he’d already grown taller than her these past few years. Mihyun lets him lean into her and wishes that this is enough, that this will fix all the hurting that’s wrenching those tears out of him. She curves her palm around the back of his neck, stroking slowly as his hitching sobs grow quieter. He’s still shaking even when she’s holding him tightly and her heart breaks all over again.

“Please tell me what’s wrong, sweetheart,” she murmurs, holding back her own tears. 

Yunho slides down onto his knees next to her, and with tears still streaming down his face, looks at her. “I’m so sorry,” he manages through his sobs. And once he starts to talk, it’s like the floodgates have opened, and he can’t stop himself. “Umma, I’m so, so sorry, I-I feel _wrong_ when I shift t-to wolf, I feel d-dizzy, and like I’m gonna throw up, b-but I promise, I’ll try to shift more now, I’m s-so sorry for disappointing you, I’m sorry, I’m really — really sorry. Please don’t make me leave the p-pack, please forgive me, I-I’m really going to t-try harder —“

The ache in Mihyun’s chest intensifies as she listens to him, each word stumbling out of Yunho’s mouth in a rush of fear so thick it’s a wonder he hadn’t suffocated on them. She pulls him to her again, wrapping him up in her arms and holding him there. Not just for him this time around, but so that she can steal a few seconds to swallow down her own share of grief at seeing him so terrified over imaginary offenses that he’d kept this secret for god knows how long. Her Yunho, who always seems so, so strong... Mihyun clenches her jaw, makes sure her eyes are dry when they part. He takes his hands in hers and looks at him straight in the eyes. They shine, glistening wet, as dark as polished stones.

She takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “You don’t disappoint me, sweetheart, not at all. This… This feeling that you have over shifting—” her voice quivers when she thinks about their last pack gathering and she tightens her hold on his hands, “—we’ll figure it out together. You don’t have to shift if you don’t want to. I promise it’s okay. Don’t you worry about the pack.” Another pause. Mihyun raises a hand to cup his cheek and says, every ounce of her feelings poured into each syllable, “This doesn’t change how much we love you, Yunho.”

Very little of what she says actually registers to Yunho, because he knows, despite what his mother says, this is wrong. He’s a wolf, his more natural form should be that, and nothing will take away the amount of shame he feels about this. Not even his mother. 

But he nods to appease her, because he’s sure he’s hurt his mother enough today.

He wipes at his eyes, and then looks away. “I guess I should study for that quiz.”

Mihyun frowns, doesn’t believe for a second that her son understands that she means every single she’d said, but he’s already pulling away from her. Retreating back behind the facade she has now recognised for what it is — a wall he’d put up between him and the rest of the world. She sighs, getting to her feet and pausing to press a kiss to his forehead. Stroking his head, Mihyun says, “You’re not going to go through this alone.”

Yunho nods. “Thanks,” he whispers. He looks up at her one more time. “I really want to feel right again.”

She gathers him in her arms, her face pressed to the crown of his head as her heart breaks all over again. “You’re perfect the way you are, sweetheart.” Another kiss and when she smiles down at him, Mihyun hopes that he can see how much he’s loved. "Don't stay up too late.”

Yunho nods and gets back up, pulls away from his mother. He sits down at his desk, and he tries to put his focus on his schoolwork now. His eyes are stinging now and his nose is blocked, but none of it is as distracting as the fact that now, his parents know about all of this, so he has to fix it quickly. He has to start shifting more — the more he shifts, the better it has to get. And if he were to do it, he might as well do it when his parents and his siblings are watching so that they all see how much he’s trying.

He can’t get kicked out of the pack. He just _can’t_.

.

**tbc**

.


	5. Chapter 5

.

Yanghyun stares at his packed luggage, his mind absently going through a list of necessities as it often does when he needs a distraction. The conference he’ll be attending for the next two days is an important landmark in both his career and personal vocations — he’s one of the key speakers discussing the implementation and implication of the Equality Act, and he finds himself loathe to leave the family home. He can hear Mihyun moving around the room, picking up odds and ends as she finishes up packing for both of them. Having her at the conference is a blessing — she’s his usual sounding board when he’s in need of another perspective. especially considering the recent issues surrounding the Act, and she is as sharp as anyone in his team. She’d worked civil cases with him, both for the state and pro bono, before she retired when they found out that she’s pregnant with Yunho. 

Speaking of—

“Are you sure about leaving them on their own this weekend?” Yanghyun wheels around to catch his wife at the dresser, pulling out a fresh pair of socks. He’d forgotten the socks. Again. “You should stay at home. Didn’t Jihye say she needs help with her Science project?”

Mihyun heaves a sigh. “You know very well that we can’t refuse the mayor’s invitation, dear.”

“Yes, but—“

“The kids will be _fine_.” She sounds a lot more confident that he feels, and that’s saying something. She pads over to him, places the socks on top of his folded briefs and pecks him on the cheek. “This is not the first time we’re leaving them for a couple of days.”

Yanghyun frowns. His eyes flicker to the picture he keeps on his bedside table. It was taken about ten years ago, right around the time Changmin joined the family — he had his arm around Mihyun’s waist, both of them beaming at the camera. She’s wearing a wide-brimmed hat that shielded her face from the sun, so she’s not squinting as he did. Jihye was still in her ‘pink everything’ phase and she’s pushing at Yunho’s shoulder, who had slung his arms around her and Changmin’s necks. Both boys were laughing, heads pressed close together, and Changmin’s hand clutching at Yunho’s shirt. He’d refused to leave Yunho’s side, especially after what they went through on Changmin’s first day at school, and Yanghyun wishes he can turn back time. Just so he can spare them that tragedy. 

He wonders if that’s the reason behind Yunho’s… struggles.

After Mihyun told him about what his son had shared, Yanghyun’s knee-jerk reaction was to sit Yunho down and start figuring out an action plan. A fix-it, because the thought of anyone from his family struggling with their identity, their _place_ in the pack is nothing short of horrifying. His work brings him in contact with organisations from all around the country and he’d heard stories about younger members from different packs struggling with their identities, especially when they grow up isolated inside a predominantly human community. Dysphoria is a term loosely-used by some of his colleagues, but he doesn’t know if that applies to Yunho. And _if_ it does, how are they expected to deal with it. He’d wanted to ask his son _why_ and _how _ and _since when_, but Mihyun was adamant that Yunho will work things out on his own.

“He’s almost an adult now, Yanghyun,” she had said that night, after stopping him from going straight to Yunho’s room. Her expression wavered for a second, a flicker of anguish in her eyes that found an echoing hurt in his own chest, but she stood her ground. “Trust him to figure things out on his own. He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

It’s one of the most difficult things she had asked of him in the course of their marriage, but he knows better than to refuse his mate anything. The most he can do is to spend more time at home, cutting back on the amount of cases he takes on and coming back much earlier than usual. He makes it a point to keep an eye on Yunho, who must’ve felt a lot better after talking to Mihyun because he’s shifting a lot more nowadays. Yanghyun can see him making an effort to join Changmin and Jihye when they’re piled up in the living room, watching television as Mihyun knits, and it eases some of the worries he has. On more than one occasions, he’d also seen Yunho rolling around with Changmin in their wolf forms, play-fighting as brothers often do. Instead of doing their homework, but he’s willing to turn a blind eye on that as long as he knows that his son is working through his issues. He still thinks that he needs to talk to Yunho about it, but perhaps that can wait. 

Once they’re all packed and ready, Yanghyun lugs everything downstairs as Mihyun changes. Changmin is in the kitchen, fixing himself yet another snack (the kid’s growing like a tree) and Jihye’s watching one of those variety shows he doesn’t understand. 

Yunho, however, is nowhere to be seen.

“We’re going!” he calls out, once he’d dropped off the luggage near the hallway. 

Yunho bites his lip and closes his eyes from his bed when he hears it. _Just one more time, then the weekend is mine._He clenches his teeth and gets up from his bed slowly, hoping that it will give him even one extra second of freedom from the discomfort that shifting brings him. He takes a deep breath and leaves his room. Halfway down the stairs, he swallows and forces himself to shift, even though every cell in his body is protesting.

It takes him a couple of tries, but he makes it, and he settles onto the bottom of the staircase on his four paws. His skin crawls and ev_erything _feels wrong, but if this is what it takes to please his parents, this is what he'll do.

He bounds down towards his parents at the door, and Changmin and Jihye are there too. He knows that his parents have seen him in wolf now, and since Jihye and Changmin are in human form, he gives himself permission to shift back to human.

The relief it brings is almost instant.

He forces the sigh back down, and looks at his parents in the most natural way he can, and hopes that they can't see the cold sweats that he's broken into.

Yunho smiles. "Have a safe trip."

Yanghyun grins at Changmin (who’s still chewing) and Jihye (who’d turned towards the television again), and gestures for Yunho to help him with the bags. It’s an excuse, a poor one at that, but he needs to speak to his son alone.

Mihyun gives him a look, but says nothing as she goes through the doorway first. She has the keys with her and he waits for Yunho to follow them outside, before he turns to the boy. 

“You have the emergency contact numbers, right?” he says, watching Yunho intently. “And we’re only a phone call away. If there’s anything wrong, just call.”

“Appa, nothing’s going to go wrong. Don’t worry about us,” laughs Yunho. He loads the luggage into the trunk. “Just focus on your speech.”

“Famous last words, son.” Yanghyun claps a hand over Yunho’s shoulder once he’s done with the luggage and uses that to pull him closer. His voice lowers and he looks as serious as he would’ve been in a courtroom when he asks, “Everything’s gonna be okay?”

_With you_, he doesn’t say. But it’s there, in the crease between his brows and the light squeeze on Yunho’s shoulder. 

Yunho smiles. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

The confidence in his voice is enough to convince Yanghyun and he nods, relinquishing his grip after a few more seconds. They never worry about leaving the kids on their own — despite their wildly-different personalities, they tend to stick to each other. And they’re much too responsible to be throwing parties when the parents are not around. Yanghyun holds out a few bills for Yunho and winks, as if they’re sharing a secret.

“For pizza, if Changmin eats through the fridge again.”

Yunho laughs. That isn’t an unlikely event, so he takes it. “Thanks. I’ll use it wisely. To feed all of us.”

His dad smiles and with one more clap on his shoulder, turns to close the trunk of the car. Yunho watches him for a few seconds, and then taps him on the arm. “Appa… I just wanted to say,” he begins. 

His father turns towards him, wide-eyed and almost already devastated, as if he’s ready to hear the worst, maybe that Jihye’s dying.

Yunho chuckles, but goes on genuinely. “I just wanted to say, I’m really… really grateful that you’re doing this. For all of us wolves.” He looks up into his father’s eyes and smiles.

He then embraces his father tightly, his head in the crook of his father’s neck and whispers, “Thank you, Appa.”

Yanghyun swallows around the lump that had suddenly formed inside his throat and brings his arms around Yunho, wondering how his son had grown up so quickly when he wasn’t looking. They break apart and Yanghyun rounds the car, so Mihyun can beckon Yunho over and kiss his cheek goodbye. She reminds them of the chores they’re supposed to do, Yunho’s laughter spilling into the car as he nods at her chastise. Yanghyun sees Yunho in the rearview mirror as he goes down the driveway — a lone figure, standing there in his t-shirt and sweats, looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face. Could’ve been the distance, could’ve been the distortion caused by the mirror but Yanghyun doesn’t like that expression one bit. 

He grips the steering wheel tighter and reminds himself that he’s supposed to trust Yunho. 

_He knows what he’s doing. _Yanghyun flicks the indicator light. _Everything will be fine._

Yunho watches his parents drive away, and bites his lip.

He is happy for them, and proud of all of the work that they’re doing, but he’s also just… grateful that they’re leaving for the weekend, because that means a weekend of no shifting — ‘guilty’ is an understatement for how he feels about this.

Yunho’s problem is such a small one, in the grand scheme of things, at the scale that their parents are working in. And how ungrateful he must seem to them, when they’re working so hard to further wolf rights and their own son doesn’t like to be in wolf.

Yunho can’t help but sigh, but he turns back inside the house. He closes the door, kicks off his shoes and steps inside.

He can’t wait to go lie down and just relax — he’d been so tense the entire week, ever since he’d been truthful to his mother about how he feels over shifting. He finally makes his way upstairs to his room and sprawls out on his bed, and falls asleep.

Hours later, Changmin nudges open Yunho’s door with his shoulder, hands a bit preoccupied with the bowls of cold cucumber soup he’d decided to bring up to the older boy. It’s getting warmer outside, the last dredges of spring giving way to summer, and he’s already thinking about dragging Yunho to the pool the next day. There’s one in their community centre and it’s his favourite, since they’re allowed to shift if they want to. Nothing better than to splash around, getting their fur wet and then basking in the sun to dry themselves. That’s where he learnt how to swim. 

“Hyung?” Changmin places the bowls carefully on Yunho’s study table, having to move around a few books and folders. The room is warm, despite the opened windows, and he grimaces when his nose picks up an overripe scent that the wind must’ve carried. One of these days, he’s going to write a complaint to the board about the necessity of scent blockers. “C’mon, you haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”

"Oh," says Yunho groggily, sitting up. "Thanks."

It must be all the pressure suddenly lifting off — he's feeling a bit off. Not awful, but just… tired and maybe a bit feverish. He looks at the bowl of cold soup, with ice floating inside, and before he knows it, he's grabbed the bowl and is drinking it down.

He hadn't even known he was this thirsty.

The soup cools his insides as it goes down, soothing him. It feels a lot better after he finishes, and he puts the bowl down and smiles at Changmin.

"Amazing. Did you make that?"

Changmin isn’t expecting Yunho to finish the entire bowl in one minute flat and he looks at his own share, before he holds that bowl out for the other boy as well. Should’ve brought more if he knew how much the heat had gotten to Yunho. The compliment makes him grin and he plops onto the bed in a sprawl of long limbs, the back of his arm brushing Yunho’s hips.

“Yeah. Umma showed me how last week. She said at least one of us has to know how to cook.” This close, he can’t help but notice how warm Yunho’s skin is. It’s almost like sitting next to a kiln. Changmin pushes himself up on his elbows, frowning as he studies Yunho’s face. “You don’t look too good, hyung. Are you getting sick?”

Yunho puts his hand on his forehead to feel how warm he is. It's hard to tell on himself. "I don't know. Maybe I'm coming down with the flu or something. With the season changing and everything." Yunho takes his time a bit more with the second bowl of soup, sipping it every few seconds instead of gulping it all down at once. Even then, he finishes it very quickly. He hands the empty bowl to Changmin.

He slinks into his bed again, and from where he is, he watches Changmin's worried eyes. Changmin really shouldn't be this worried because Yunho doesn't feel that bad.

It's nothing a good cuddle won't fix.

Yunho opens his arms from his bed towards Changmin. The message is exceedingly clear, even if he doesn't use his words.

The open arms are an invitation Changmin would never ignore. He makes sure that the bowls are safely-placed on the table before he shifts, pawing up to cuddle against Yunho. The older boy is warmer than usual, even after the cucumber soup, and Changmin licks at his neck, his cheeks to cool him down even further. He settles himself into a curl around Yunho’s much longer human body and watches the rise and fall of Yunho’s chest.

“_You smell weird,_” he murmurs, nose scrunched as he tries to figure out if the onset of Yunho’s fever is messing up his scent. He sniffs along the line of Yunho’s jaw and that overripe sweetness is slightly stronger, as if stuck to Yunho’s skin. “_Did you see anyone from the pack yesterday?_”

"Mmm…" Yunho thinks back. "I don't… think so?"

He buries his face in the comfort of Changmin's fur and takes in a deep breath himself. Yunho closes his eyes. Changmin always sniffs at Yunho, but Yunho rarely does Changmin — as a young cub, Changmin always just smelled like milk, and it hasn't been long, in Yunho's mind, that Changmin started developing his own scent. Today, though, Changmin smells so nice too, and Yunho wonders whether Changmin's scent has changed too, or if it's just Yunho's illness making him more sensitive. 

"You smell nice though," says Yunho lazily, pulling Changmin closer.

That makes Changmin preen happily and he nuzzles the older boy, basking in the arms around him, as they both drift into comfortable silence. While he’s worried about the slight increase of temperature, it wouldn’t be the first time Yunho caught something from school. Medicines before bed should clear it and he makes a mental note to ask Jihye to heat up some of the bone broth their mother keeps frozen in the fridge. Changmin is more concerned about trying to place the scent he’s picking up, because it’s been a while since he last got a good whiff of an omega at the cusp of a heat and he isn’t even sure that’s what it is. The nearest wolf family is four houses down and, if memory serves, the Ohs are all betas. Maybe they’re hosting someone who’s not on suppressants - it’d happened before and it stands to reason why omegas are usually kept under close watch.

Doesn’t explain why the scent is lingering on Yunho, but he must’ve made contact with the omega sometime in the last twenty-four hours.

Changmin huffs in annoyance, more sensitive to the scent when he’s a wolf and that prompts him to shift back. His face is still tucked into Yunho’s shoulder and he moves around so they’re more comfortably pressed together, an arm going around Yunho’s waist and the other bent to pillow his own head. The single bed is getting a bit small to accommodate both of them at the same time, but it’s not like they’ve ever needed an excuse to cuddle. Changmin’s hand moves from Yunho’s waist to trail over his side, then to his neck and face. He brushes hair from Yunho’s forehead and presses his palm there, frowning at the heat he can feel rolling off the skin.

“You sure you don’t want me to get anything for you?”

“Mmm… Maybe I should take something,” says Yunho, but he pulls Changmin closer and slings a leg over him. He lets out a hot breath, blows it onto Changmin’s face.

At this point, Changmin’s starting to think that maybe the fever isn’t the only thing wrong with Yunho. He leans back to get a better look at Yunho’s face and the flush that’s creeping up onto the pale face. Yunho’s leg doesn’t let him get very far, though, and he palms Yunho’s face. “Maybe you should.”

But he also isn’t pulling away, a faint stirring at the back of his head keeping him anchored to Yunho. 

Yunho sighs happily and closes his eyes. He’s smiling to himself when he hears his bedroom door being thrust open. Both he and Changmin look up to see Jihye at the door looking at them as if she’d walked in on something terribly amusing. 

“What happened to knocking,” groans Yunho.

“I’m hungry,” she announces loudly, hands on her hips and looking, for all intent and purposes, like she’s about to drag them both downstairs. Her eyes land on Changmin, who’s still all tangled up with Yunho so she’s pretty much staring at them both. “Let’s just get pizza for dinner so you guys can go back to your—” her eyes gleam, almost viciously, “—_manly cuddling_.” 

“Oh, yeah,” says Yunho, sitting up. He’s a bit dizzy as he does. Man, this _fever_. “Whatever you want to order. We’ll eat it.” He looks at Changmin to see if he has any objections to that.

Changmin almost whines when Yunho disentangles himself, but bites it back because Jihye is there. She’s already looking at them funny and he doesn’t need her feeding her friends’ propensity for gossip mongering if she ever decides to tell them about the many times she’d found them cuddling. He goes to sit, with an arm still pressed to Yunho’s back. He rucks up the shirt so he can slip his hand underneath, dragging his palm over the too-warm skin he finds there. 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he nods. His thumb finds the shape of Yunho’s vertebrae and he rubs at it soothingly. “And heat up some bone broth. I think Yunho-hyung’s coming down with something.”

“You’re going to catch whatever he’s got if you keep —“ Jihye stops herself with a roll of her eyes. “Whatever. I’m going to order bacon potato pizza.” She then eyes Changmin. “Actually, maybe I should get three.”

“And dessert!” Changmin reminds her as she rolls her eyes and walks out of the room. One of these days, she’s going to roll them so hard they won’t roll back the right way. Somewhere along that discussion, Yunho had moved to lean against him, head propped up on Changmin’s shoulder and his eyes going half-lidded. His breathing is slightly shallow but it doesn’t sound too bad, so Changmin just continues rubbing the older boy’s back. “You should shower first, before dinner. That’ll make you feel a bit better, hyung.”

Yunho groans — he doesn’t feel like moving at all, but Changmin’s probably right. It’s probably a wise idea to cool off this fever with a cold shower. Even so, he plops back down on the bed and gathers Changmin into his arms again. “I don’t want to.”

It’s very hard to argue when Yunho’s arms are around him and he’s being pulled back to bed, the promise of snuggling with Yunho is a lot more enticing than food. Which shouldn’t even be possible, because Changmin _loves _food. But, well. Yunho’s still smiling at him and Changmin has never been able to refuse him anything.

He’s sliding his hands up Yunho’s sides when— 

“Oppa! Where’s the money?!”

_Goddammit._

Yunho jerks up again. “Oh… I have it.” He has to actually stand up from the bed for proper access to his pockets. He fishes out the bills and hands a few of them to Jihye. As her fingers brush against Yunho’s, she jumps.

“You _do _have a fever,” says Jihye, wide-eyed. She places a hand on Yunho’s forehead. “Whoa. Your forehead is _super _hot.”

Yunho stretches out his back and scratches the back of his head. “Okay, I should shower, then.”

She nods, grimly and then turns to raise an eyebrow at Changmin. “You should shower as well, since you’ve been rolling around with him and I don’t need both of you getting sick at the same time.” Her nose wrinkles and they can hear her grumbling as she walks away, “Why do I have to look after these giant babies—“

Changmin reluctantly drags himself out of bed and holds his hand out for Yunho. “Shower, dinner and then you’re going to bed early. Okay?”

“Okay.” Yunho slings his arm around Changmin’s shoulder. “So bossy.”

“Shower, hyung.” Changmin gives him a slight push, mirroring the grin on Yunho’s face. “Or do you want me to help with that too?”

“Maybe if I get any sicker than this,” says Yunho, sticking out his tongue. He lets himself be shoved into the bathroom.

Changmin tips his head back and laughs, the sound rumbling in his chest. He makes his way to his own room, shedding off his t-shirt so he can hop into the bathroom as soon as Yunho is done. The scent still lingers, now rubbed off on him as well, and he really needs to find out where the hell it’s coming from. Being an alpha makes him much more sensitive than betas like Yunho and Jihye, and while he can use a mask to help, it’s an uncomfortable option. He also hasn’t been taking his rut suppressant, since there isn’t any omega around and he doesn’t like how those pills leave him feeling numb and detached. Changmin throws the t-shirt into the hamper, stifling the irrational urge to bury his nose in the fabric to catch another whiff of that scent.

As soon as he steps into the bathroom, Yunho sniffs his arm — does he really smell that bad? He can’t really smell anything strange on himself, and has no idea what Changmin’s talking about, but he finds himself going through what happened yesterday in his head. It was just a normal school day, he came right back home… and today, he hugged his parents? But why wouldn’t Changmin recognize that smell?

He doesn’t think too long about it, anyway — he’s feeling much too uncomfortable to be worrying about someone else’s smell. He’ll wash everything off in the shower anyway.

He takes an extra cold shower to cool his skin, and scrubs extra hard to get whatever smell Changmin’s talking about off. And when he steps out, he actually does feel a bit better; at least he feels like he can last the rest of the evening.

Seeing Yunho fresh out of shower makes Changmin feel better and he’s quick with his, coming out in time to hear their dinner being delivered. He changes and lopes downstairs, grinning at the smell of pizza and simmering bone broth. Jihye had also put the rice cooker on and taken out the side dishes from the fridge, probably because she felt bad about harassing her brothers earlier. Or maybe just Yunho, who’s laughing at whatever story she’s narrating. Changmin flicks open one of the pizza boxes and picks up a slice, sliding into the chair right next to Yunho’s as he takes a bite.

“You smell better,” he says, while chewing so the words come out a bit mangled. He brings up a hand, the non-greasy one, to press against Yunho’s forehead. “Feel better?”

“Mm,” says Yunho with a nod, mouth stuffed full of food. He’s quite a lot relieved that Changmin thinks he smells better. He has no idea whose scent he was carrying earlier, but he’s glad it’s gone now. And he does feel better. 

Changmin nods, satisfied for now, and proceeds to try and cajole Jihye into giving him a larger portion of the chocolate pie she’d gotten for dessert. His sister, of course, refuses and Yunho has to get between them before they can start chasing each other around the table. Once they manage to survive dinner without breaking anything, a feat on its own, Changmin roots around the medicine drawer for something that would help with Yunho’s fever. 

“Here,” he says, bringing two pills and a glass of water to where Yunho is reclining on the couch, watching Jihye’s choice of variety show. Her taste runs along the usual ‘one with whichever boy group I’m obsessed with at the time’ standard and Yunho is better off sleeping than watching it with her. “Take these and go to bed, hyung.”

Yunho isn’t too peeved when Changmin sends him to bed — the show is fine, but it’s not as funny as Jihye seems to think it is, and he’s starting to get feverish and tired again. He takes the medicine from Changmin. “Thanks, Changdol.”

The childhood nickname makes him grin and he waits for Yunho to take the pills, before he literally hounds the older boy back to his room. Jihye yells her ‘_night!_’ good-naturally without looking away from the television screen and he tells her to not stay up too late (not that she ever listens when their parents aren’t around). Yunho is looking flushed all over again, half-dazed as he climbs the stairs and Changmin hovers behind him, just to make sure that Yunho doesn't stumble. If the fever gets any worse, he might have to call their family doctor, but he hopes that the medicine would do their job. The night's getting warmer and he throws open the windows in Yunho’s room, allowing air to circulate. 

“Do you want more water?” he asks, collecting the bowls from earlier. And organising the books on the table, as well as whatever random things Yunho had picked up. There’s an origami of a cat that’s a bit crumpled and he slips that underneath a book, hoping it’ll flatten out come morning. “Or anything else?”

Yunho shakes his head, but looks at Changmin with a smile. Since when did Changmin become the one to take care of Yunho? He's really grown up more than what Yunho gives him credit for.

He feels the fever rush up, and he closes his eyes. "Good night, Changmin."

Changmin leans over him, running his fingers through Yunho’s hair and pushing it back from his forehead. The skin feels much too warm for him to not worry, but perhaps all Yunho needs is some rest. He murmurs a soft ‘_good night, hyung_’, closes the door behind him and heads down to the kitchen. Jihye, as he’d suspected, is still watching the television, although now it’s a different show than before. The bowls are washed and dried quickly, and he’s about to tell her to go up and study when his phone rings.

A quick glance at the screen tells him that it’s Mihyun.

“Umma, how’s the conference?” he asks in greeting, cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pulls out a flask to fill with water. “You’re not bored already, are you?”

“_Just a little bit._” Mihyun’s laughter is stifled from the other end of the line and he can hear conversations going on in the background. She’s probably still at the dinner party they usually host during the conferences. “_I tried calling your brother but he’s not picking up._”

Changmin caps off the flask and places it on the table. “I think he’s asleep already. He picked up a bug or something at school, and he went to bed early.” He can hear Mihyun frowning through the line and rushes to assure his mother, “He took some medicine already, Umma. Don’t worry.”

Her silence lasts for a few seconds, before she sighs. “_Keep an eye on your brother and if it gets worse—“_

“I’ll call Doctor Kim, I know.”

Mihyun laughs. There’s muffled voices at the back, an announcement of a sort followed by applause. “_And what’s your sister doing?_”

Changmin raises his voice so it carries to the living room when he says, “She’s watching TV! I told her to study but she’s not listening!”

That earns him a dirty look from Jihye, who promptly turns off the television and stomps upstairs as he grins at her back. No doubt she’s going to retaliate somehow, but he’ll worry about that later. The call ends with his mother telling him that they might be back late, since his father is meeting up with journalists from a global publication, who are interested in writing about the movements inspired by the Equality Act in South Korea. They exchange ‘_I love you_’s and Changmin sneaks into Yunho’s room to leave the flask of water on his table, just in case he gets thirsty later that night. Yunho is all bundled up and his breathing sounds a bit laboured — Changmin frowns, making a mental note to dig up the electronic thermometer later.

He goes back to his own room, catches up with all his readings and half of his History homework, before deciding that he’s too tired to do the rest.

Which is why Changmin doesn’t understand what causes him to suddenly jerk awake not even half an hour later, skin clammy with cold sweat and a premonition of _something wrong _screaming at the back of his head. His heart is pounding in his chest, hair sticking to his scalp and he blinks at nothing in the darkness of his room as he tries to understand what had woken him up in the first place.

That’s when he hears it — pained whimpers, coming from Yunho’s room. 

Changmin’s first reaction is to stumble out of bed, almost crashing to the floor when he finds his legs are tangled up with the blanket. He rips at them impatiently and before long, he finds himself in front of Yunho’s door. He opens it without thinking, too worried about Yunho to do anything else, and he’s wholly unprepared for what’s waiting for him inside. The smell hits him first. It’s like being punched in the guts, a physical, almost overwhelming pain, and whatever residual sleep that’s addling his brain is instantly gone. Cleared out, to make way for the howling of his wolf. Changmin has to fight not to shift right then and there, and he takes another step towards the bed, staggering under the weight of his own instincts. Yunho is still bundled up but even under the covers, Changmin can see that the older boy is shivering violently. His scent has gone haywire, seeping right into Changmin’s brain and triggering the kind of response he wouldn’t have thought possible.

Yunho — Yunho is a _beta_.

Betas don’t go into _heats_. 

“Hyung—” His voice is rough, sandpaper dry, and he clenches his fingers. Nails digging into his palms with the effort to keep himself in control. It’s rapidly becoming a losing battle when Yunho lets out another whimper and the blanket shifts, making the smell even more intense. More _enticing_. Changmin groans and pushes the heel of a hand against his hardening cock, a biological reaction to whatever the hell is going on. “_Hyung, wake up!_”

Changmin's voice makes Yunho's eyes fly open. Yunho's burning up, so much so that he feels cold when the blanket falls from his shoulders as he sits up. 

"Ch… Changmin —" Yunho can barely get the words out through his hot, shallow breaths, and his fingers clench around the sheets. "I'm — I'm…"

He eyes Changmin standing at the door with greed, and tips his head back, eyes closing, as another bout of cramps hit him. He lets out a loud, whining moan.

The cracks in Yunho’s voice are near unbearable, ripping right through Changmin’s self control as his brain registers the sheer amount of pain bleeding from each syllable. He staggers forward and each step he takes brings him that much closer to the centre of that too-sweet, cloying scent. Everything else has faded into the background — only Yunho stands out, in sharp clarity, and _he needs Changmin_. It calls to him, to the wilder, more primal parts of him that are only too happy to oblige. Before he knows it, he’s already at the side of the bed, one knee on the mattress as he leans over Yunho. Both hands cupping the older boy’s face, tilting his head up and baring his throat even further.

Changmin’s cock throbs, almost painfully.

“Why—” He grits his teeth, and then tries again. It feels as though his blood is boiling into an unsustainable temperature the longer he waits, when his entire being screams for him to just…_take_. “You’re— heat, this is a heat, hyung, why are you—“ 

His thumb slips and presses against Yunho’s lower lip, indenting that plush softness. 

Yunho focuses his glassy eyes on Changmin, and breathes in his strong, musky scent. It makes his head spin, and Yunho reaches out with his hands to grasp Changmin's waist. "It… it can't be," says Yunho. He arches his back, trying to manage the cramping pain. "I'm — I'm not an omega —"

Yunho whimpers and tries to slide up on the bed and then freezes. His wide eyes find Changmin. _Oh my god._

"I… I think I'm —"

He reaches down to feel the mattress with his hand — it can't be, none of this is making sense — Yunho's heart drops as he feels the cold, wet sheet under where he was just sitting, and he looks down at his hand in disbelief. 

Changmin’s nostrils flare as he realises what had made Yunho fall silent — he must be _wet_, so wet that he’d soaked right through his sweats and stained the mattress, and Changmin is close enough that he can smell it. His hands move from Yunho’s face to his shoulders, gripping so tightly that they must’ve bruised. _Marked_, his brain crows, louder and louder. _Mine_. It’s harder to think straight when the wolf inside him is scratching frantically, urging him to surrender to his instincts because this is _right_. He’s an alpha and Yunho… Yunho is _his_omega. Changmin growls and yanks at his t-shirt, throwing it over his shoulder. There’s a vague choked-off noise coming from Yunho, another keening whine and he doesn’t waste any time in stripping him as well. He finds no resistance from Yunho, who just lets Changmin manhandles him as he pleases, and they’re pressed skin-to-skin in seconds. Yunho raises his arms to circle them around Changmin’s neck, fever-bright eyes looking up at him with the kind of raw desperation he’d never seen before.

"It hurts—" His nails dig into Changmin's shoulderblades, sparking wildfires inside his head when Changmin starts licking up the column of his neck. He can feel the back of his thighs getting more slippery and in a mindless haze, he parts his legs, pulling at the other boy to get him closer. Every nerve ending in his body feels like they've been set ablaze, the fire surging brighter and hotter in his belly with every rub of his chest against Changmin's, every drag of that rough tongue over his feverish skin. He wants _more. _"Make it better— please, _Changmin_—"

Changmin sucks in a deep breath and even the air inside his lungs feels hot, like he's being boiled alive. He cards his fingers through Yunho's hair, gripping the back of his head so he can tilt it to get to the scent gland. Shakily, he presses his lips there, drops a couple wet kisses, before they pull back to reveal his teeth. "Hyung, _fuck_, you're so— it's okay, I'll take care of you, I'll make you feel good, I've got you—"

The bed rattles when Changmin climbs into it, although the sound is lost to the pounding of blood in his ears. He doesn't even notice how hard he's pushing at Yunho to press him down into the mattress because what matters is to get both of them naked. His instinct is telling him to claim and that's exactly what he's going to do — that's exactly what Yunho wants him to do— 

_"I'm — I'm not an omega —"_

Changmin jerks back, Yunho's voice echoing inside his head as he looks down in horror at the older boy. Who's all stretched out, eyes glassy and unseeing, his pale skin slick with sweat and bruises from where Changmin had held him too hard. He'd already hooked two fingers into the waistband of Yunho's sweats, about to pull them down, and he wrenches his hand away as if he'd been burned. Yunho whines when Changmin stops moving, his hands pawing at Changmin's waist and whatever patch of skin he can reach. There's only desperation there; none of the sweetness and warmth Changmin's familiar with and that half-second of clarity is all that he needs to force himself to scramble out of the bed. 

"Jihye!" Everything inside him _hurts_when Yunho reaches out for him, whining _for him_, but he stumbles back, further and further away until his back meets the wall. "_JIHYE!"_

Jihye hasn’t fallen asleep yet, still looking at her phone, when she hears Changmin’s panicked scream from the other side of the hall. It doesn't come from his room, though, and she rushes to Yunho's, heart lurching to her throat as she imagines the worst case possible. It's the first time in her life that she'd heard pure anguish in his voice. She throws the door open and stops there, deathly still, taking in the sight that’s greeted her. The first thing she sees is her oldest brother, half-lying on the bed with his body turned towards the door. He looks disheveled, hair sticking up everywhere and even the semi-darkness can’t hide the glisten of sweat filming over his bared skin. His mouth is parted into a whine and he’s not looking at the door, not really — Jihye turns her head and flinches when her eyes land on Changmin. 

He has a hand over his mouth and the other is curled against the wall, leaving faint, blood-streaked gouges where he must’ve dragged his nails into the paint. He’s also shirtless, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but the way his chest heaves with every breath he takes and how his wide eyes are locked onto Yunho send alarms blaring inside her head.

“What’s wrong?” She’s not sure which of her brothers she’s asking, but her voice seems to jostle Changmin out of his trance. His head jerks towards her and she almost takes a step back at the feral hunger in his eyes. It’s only the knowledge that he wouldn’t hurt her makes Jihye stand her ground. “O-Oppa, what’s happening? Why are—“

“He’s in _heat_,” Changmin snaps, the words lashing out of him as if he hurts just saying them out loud. He’d removed the hand over his mouth and it shakes badly, before he clenches them tight. “Hyung is—”

Jihye feels as though she’d just been doused by very, very cold water. She turns to stare at Yunho and wonders if they’re playing a prank on her. “That’s impossible! He’s a beta! Betas don’t—” 

“_Stop__!_” Changmin’s voice has gone sharper and it cuts into her, makes her want to shift and tuck her tail between her legs. It’s the command of an alpha and even though he’s not Yanghyun, her instinct tells her to obey. Changmin looks as stricken as she is and he drags in another ragged breath, obviously struggling to be in control. “Listen. I need you to- to stay here. Lock the door and call Umma. Tell her what’s happening.”

She nods, eyes flickering between Changmin and Yunho. The room suddenly feels too small, as if the entire world has been crammed into it when she isn’t looking, and it’s getting harder to breath. But her brothers need her right now and Jihye is determined to see this through.

“Don’t let anyone inside before Umma and Appa get here, understand?” Changmin’s eyes have gone wild again, pupils blown wide and flashes of gold looking back at her. “Not even me.” He swallows thickly and punches the wall with the side of a fist, his entire face scrunching into something that looks a lot like self-disgust. She wants to know what had happened before she got there, but this isn’t the time to ask. “_Especially _me. Understand? No one but Umma and Appa.”

Jihye squares her shoulder and nods again, this time with more conviction. She moves deeper into the room, trying to ignore the whimpers coming from the bed. It’s selfish, but she has never been so thankful to be a beta as she is right at that moment. “Got it. You should— go. I’ll take care of him, trust me.”

With a last glance at Yunho, Changmin lurches out of the room, although that’s the last thing he wants to do. His shoulders shake in a desperate attempt to suppress the lustful edge of his primitive urge, clawing hungrily at the shreds of whatever self-control he has left. He stumbles downstairs, going for the storeroom at the back of the house. It’s as far as he can get from Yunho without actually leaving and while he trusts Jihye to do what he’d asked, he still needs to stay in the vicinity. Changmin shoves an old bookcase against the door from the inside and goes to sit in the corner of the darkened space, knees pulled up to his chest and arms tightly wound around them. His wolf is still raging inside him, demanding explanation as to why he’d left _his omega_ behind _in heat_. Changmin squeezes his eyes shut. Buries his face into the space between his drawn knees, so nobody can hear the broken noises he’s making. Thankful, for once, that he gets to keep his human form. 

That he’d somehow managed to hold on long enough to protect Yunho from himself.

.

**tbc**

.


	6. Chapter 6

.

Changmin doesn't know how long he'd barricaded himself in the storeroom, staring at the far wall as he tries to regulate his breathing. The all-encompassing dark makes it easier, as does the counting — the numbers blur once he reaches upwards of two hundred but he keeps going on and on and _ on_. Three hundred. Four hundred. Five— Changmin clenches his jaw, bloodied fingers digging into his knees, and starts all over. It's a kind of meditation he'd used during swim meets to keep himself centred in the moment and right now, he needs all the help he can get so he doesn't stick a hand into his pants and jerk off to the residual heat from Yunho, one that seems to have wrapped itself around him like cling film. He can still smell the older boy on him — that overripe sweetness, thick and cloying but oh so _ alluring _ — and that makes his stomach clench, makes his cock throbs in the confines of his briefs when he thinks about how wet Yunho had been. 

He slams his head back against the wall, screws his eyes shut and starts from zero. 

Again and again.

It must’ve been hours later when there's finally a knock on the door. A quiet sound, almost tentative. Changmin’s head jerks towards it and he almost sobs in relief when he can smell Mihyun from the other side.

“Umma?” he calls out, voice cracking around the edges. He finally realises how dry his throat is, how parched he feels. “Is that you?”

Mihyun bites her lip and closes her eyes as she hears his adopted son's broken voice. She almost feels like crying, it only coming to hit her how much Changmin must have suffered today too, even through all the while that she was trying to help Yunho get through the night.

She asked Jihye as soon as she arrived home and saw that it was just Yunho and Jihye in the room where Changmin was, and Jihye, through her panic-stricken tears, told her she didn't know. She'd asked Jihye to look for Changmin while she tried to soothe Yunho, and minutes later, Jihye came back to tell her that she thinks Changmin locked himself in the storeroom.

She really wishes that he'd allowed Yanghyun to come with her then — after they received the phone call from Jihye in the middle of the night, the obvious response and instinct for both of them was to rush to their children, forget everything else. But after she gathered her senses, Mihyun forced her mate to stay at the conference, since his speech would be in just a few hours. At the time, she felt like she would be able to deal with it on her own, but how Changmin responded to this is not something that she expected, nor knows exactly how to deal with. She does knows that Changmin needs time away from the omega (_My son Yunho, my gosh, an omega_), but she knows that Changmin probably also needs his alpha father to mentor him right now. Mihyun sighs and speaks gently through the door. 

“Yes, Changmin, it's me. May I come in?"

Changmin hesitates, before he drags himself to the door. Removing the bookcase is another kind of pain altogether and by the time he’d shoved it to the side, his fingers are bleeding again. They leave streaks of carmine on the door handle when he pushes it down, nudging the door to swing outwards to reveal Mihyun’s pallid face. She’s no longer as put together as she was since the last time he saw her, lines of worries spiderwebbing across her expression to shatter her normal calm and he almost whimpers when he sees the unhappy curl of her mouth. He retreats back into the room, jaw clenched so tightly that it feels as though it’s been soldered shut.

It takes him a few seconds to pry himself loose, to ask, “Is he— Is Yunho-hyung okay?”

"He's fine, sweetheart. Of course he's okay. Come here."

She opens her arms, and beckons his son out of the darkness. She still hasn't been able to see him yet, with him being so far in the storeroom. He doesn't immediately comply, but she waits patiently.

There’s a promise of comfort and forgiveness in Mihyun’s voice, the spread of her arms waiting for him, and Changmin’s breath hitches into a sob at how _ relieved _ that makes him feel. Tension sluices out of the razorsharp line of his spine, uncoiling each tight bundle of muscles slowly — she isn’t angry, not at him. He inhales deeply, shuddering as the musky air inside the room fills his lungs and at the exhale, he has to physically stop himself from surrendering into the arms. The only thing stopping him from reaching out to her is the thick, hard line of his cock and he doesn’t want her to see him like this. Not after what he’d done to Yunho.

“I _ can’t_,” he says, a harsh whisper that lingers between them. He takes another step back, further away from his adopted mother. “You should… look after Yunho hyung. I’ll be fine. I’m—” Changmin swallows, throat hurting and threatening to choke him up. “J-Just leave me here, Umma.”

Mihyun clucks. "Let me see you, Changmin. Yunho is fine. I need to see that you're okay now, sweetheart."

It’s the gentleness in her voice that breaks his resolve, pulling him out of the misery pit he’d dug for himself and he knows that she wouldn’t budge until he comes to her. They might not be blood-related, but his stubbornness is all hers. Changmin swallows thickly and slowly steps out of the shadows, eyes narrowing against the bright lights outside. He wishes he’d brought a towel or a blanket or _ something _ down, so he can cover himself in it and not have to feel so exposed. He wraps his arms around his naked torso, ragged nails digging into skin, and hangs his head as he stands before her. His mind is clearer now, away from the devastating reality of Yunho’s heat, and he feels her calming scent soothing his frayed nerves. She smells of _ family_, of _ safety_. 

Changmin shudders and bites back another sob. “I’m okay,” he says, quietly. He still doesn’t look at her, his eyes fastened on the tiles under their feet. 

Mihyun can’t help but draw in a sharp breath at the sight of Changmin as he steps out of the closet. His hair is completely disheveled, and his eyes are swollen and red around the brim. There are scratches all over his bare torso that he’s made with his own fingernails, and her eyes find Changmin’s bleeding fingers. It’s all the more obvious the lengths he went to fight himself, all to protect his pack brother, even from himself — and Mihyun has to fight her tears.

She wraps her arms around Changmin into a hug and squeezes. When she feels him relaxing in his embrace, she runs her hand over the top of his head. “Oh, Changmin, you’re such a good boy.”

He’s not, he’s so far from good and he knows that better than anyone else. His hands continue to shake but he keeps them his sides, even if all he wants to do is to wrap them around Mihyun and return the embrace. His chest feels as though it’s been hollowed out, the world tilting around him in skewed angles as he tries to understand what had happened. He lifts his head to stare at the stairs and chews on his bottom lip, blinking back the threat of more tears. 

“Yunho hyung—” he croaks, slowly. His fingers curl into fists. “He’s not— He’s not a beta, is he?” 

Mihyun bites her lip. She’d often wondered whether Yunho was an omega, to be honest — the way baby wolves in the pack always seemed to flock to him, and how comfortable he seemed with them. Yunho had always been the most physically affectionate of the three children as well, even over Jihye, and the way Changmin latched onto Yunho right away… In hindsight, all the signs were there; it was just that everyone missed them. But he got so tall during his growth spurt and, to be honest — what were the chances that he was an omega? She’d always dismissed the thought, and by default, she assumed that Yunho _ has _ to be a beta.

She wishes she had trusted her instincts more.

But what’s done is done, and what’s left is to clean up the mess.

She cups her hands under Changmin’s chin to lift it up, so that he’s looking up at her. “We should get you cleaned up. And then we should have you seen by a doctor.”

Changmin nods, an absent gesture that does nothing to lessen the static that’s starting to build again at the back of his head. If Yunho is an omega and if he really is in heat, he should be kept far away from Changmin. Regret and self-disgust well up inside him, as they always do in hindsight — he should’ve taken his suppressants earlier, he should’ve known something was wrong as soon as he realised that Yunho’s scent had changed, he should’ve called his parents when the fever started getting worse. He should’ve done so many things to protect the older boy and he failed to do any of them. He’d failed Yunho. _ Again_. 

For all his posturing against the humans, _ he _ is the one who’d hurt Yunho. 

“Umma?" 

Jihye’s voice is tremulous, but she looks calm and composed despite the tear tracks that haven’t quite dried up yet on her cheeks. Her eyes catch Changmin’s and she takes another step forward. There’s a shirt in her hand and a backpack in the other, both of which she holds out to them. 

“I thought Oppa might need this,” she says. Changmin can smell Yunho on her (she must’ve stayed with him, she’s the one keeping him _ safe_) and he has to fight to not run back into the storeroom. He can’t stop from flinching though when Jihye touches his forearm and that makes her withdraw almost instantly, before she regathers herself and offers him a watery smile. “You look like shit.”

Changmin lets out a surprised bark of laughter, although it sounds dangerously close to crying. He grabs the shirt and slips it on, heedless of how he’s leaving bloodstain on the soft grey fabric. “I feel like shit.” 

“_Language, _both of you, your father and I didn’t raise you like this,” Mihyun chastises.

Jihye rolls her eyes and he makes a zipping motion over his own mouth, despite knowing that the chastise is nothing more than for show. The exchange leaves him feeling more grounded and he hefts the backpack over his shoulder, runs a hand through his hair to make himself more presentable and less like he’d just came out of a losing fight with a bear. He’s sporting a half-wood so presentable might be stretching it and he’ll feel a lot better once he gets something for the rut still coursing inside his veins. Mihyun tells Jihye that they’re going to the clinic and to call if anything happens, and the solemn nod her sister gives them is enough to make him look away. 

Doctor Kim is already waiting for them when they arrive; Mihyun must've called ahead and informed him of the situation at hand. Changmin shuffles into the examination room, where his hands are cleaned and wrapped. The nurse is a middle-aged beta and she keeps up a steady stream of chatter as she works on him, the casual unaffected cadence of her voice helping him calm down even further. The doctor comes to see him after talking to Mihyun, but she remains outside for his consultation. Changmin isn't sure what to expect, but the questions are routine — he is asked when was the last time he had a rut, if he's sexually active and what he did when he found out that Yunho had gone into heat. 

Answering that last question takes the longest, as Changmin can't quite get the words out. _ We almost had sex_, he wants to say, guilty and ashamed. His stomach roils at the memory and he feels like throwing up. _ He asked and I couldn't say no. Even if I should've known better_. The doctor doesn't push as he struggles to explain and eventually, he manages to describe Yunho's condition. How his smell had changed and how Changmin didn't think much of it, because he's so used to the older boy's scent that he thought it's just a normal fever. Until he went into Yunho's room. And found out that his brother isn't actually a beta.

"It happens," Doctor Kim says, scribbling something onto his board. His eyes are kind when he looks at Changmin. "Your mother told me that Yunho preferred to remain in his human form, until recently. Is that right?"

Changmin nods, but feels as if he’s betraying Yunho’s confidence to be discussing this.

"A wolf's physiology is significantly different to a human's, especially during your development years. That's when you discover your secondary gender — whether you're an alpha, a beta or an omega. The most ideal way for this process to happen naturally is, of course, when you are in harmony with your lupine side. Regular shifting, scent-bonding with pack mates or simply spending time with other wolves." He sighs, his face turning grim as he continues, "Your brother might have been subconsciously repressing himself before, but his recent change of attitude towards shifting means that his body is trying to catch up with all that lost time. His heat hits hard and fast, and it's fortunate that you were able to show restraint, Changmin. In an unfamiliar environment and with less scrupulous people, Yunho might not be as lucky."

The reminder that omegas, especially the male ones, are often viewed as trophies by a portion of their own community feels like a punch to the solar plexus. Yanghyun had once sat him down and told him about how omegas were treated decades ago — they’re considered prized property, to be fought over and owned. While most would consider being pursued and wooed by powerful alphas a compliment in itself, Yanghyun said that oftentimes, the omegas were left with no choice but to succumb to the most persistent of their pursuers. Usually out of fear for their own safety. And even though the world is now a better place for them, the old practice has held firm.

Changmin would rather die than let that happen to Yunho.

The doctor goes through several more questions before he allows Changmin to go to where Mihyun is waiting. She hands him a water bottle as they wait for his suppressants and he fiddles with the cap, twisting and untwisting it. 

“I think I should stay at Minho’s for awhile,” he says. There’s no one else in the waiting room and his voice sounds too loud. “At least until… until hyung feels better.”

Mihyun looks at Changmin worriedly. Her younger son is right — he does need to be away from Yunho, but the idea of sending Changmin away while he also needs care doesn’t sit well too with her. “…I think we should have you stay in the house. We’ll think of something else.”

He shakes his head, still isn’t looking at Mihyun. “No, Umma. It would make me feel better too.” He reaches out to hold her hand and it takes every single ounce of strength he can muster to not let his voice crack when he says, “Please?”

Mihyun considers the other options in her head — maybe having Changmin stay downstairs, or making sure that Yunho is always with another family member. She looks up at Changmin to suggest this, but the resolve in Changmin’s eyes is hard to ignore. She wraps her arm around his waist. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to leave.”

“It’s not like that at all.” He leans into her, grateful that she’s still thinking of him when they both know that her priority should be Yunho. Him staying away for the duration of the heat would be good for all of them and he’ll have all the time he needs to come to terms with what he’d almost done tonight. “Don’t worry. It’ll just be a few days.”

He hopes, but the words sound hollow as soon as they come out of his mouth. None of them knows how long this heat will last, especially when it’s Yunho’s first. Nothing in his Biology classes have prepared him for this and Changmin is terrified to think about how his relationship with Yunho would be affected by it. If Yunho would even talk to him after this. If he _ remembers. _ Their conversation is derailed by the arrival of the nurse, who gives Changmin the pills he needs to keep his rut at bay. It’s been ebbing the longer he’s separated from Yunho, the itch barely there anymore since he arrived at the clinic, but he quickly dry-swallows them. And tucks the rest of the pills into his bag, wishing that they’d give him a stronger dose. 

Doctor Kim comes out to give him instruction on how to properly manage another spontaneous rut, if he’s ever unfortunate enough to experience it again, and he listens quietly, still holding onto Mihyun’s hand. It just dawns to Changmin how exhausted he is, how his entire body is aching as he sits in that uncomfortable plastic chair and that he didn’t even get a proper rest before. It would be nice to go back to his own bed, but that isn’t possible. It would be nice to sneak into Yunho’s room to curl up around him, but that isn’t possible. He clenches his jaw tightly, being very careful not to show any of the despair bleeding through him on his face because that would just make Mihyun worry even more. She deserves better.

Once the doctor clears him, Changmin gets to his feet and heads out to make the call. Minho picks up on the second ring, his excited '_Changmin-hyung!_’ almost deafening and Changmin cracks a weary grin as he listens to the younger boy complain about not seeing him at school. He cuts him off before Minho can go on a tangent and asks if he can stay over for a few days, if that’s okay with Minho’s parents. And that he’ll explain everything once he gets there. Minho agrees readily, perhaps a touch too enthusiastically, and puts Changmin on hold so he can talk to his parents. Mihyun is watching him as she waits by the car and the concern on her face somehow makes him feel worse, as if he’d disappointed her by turning his back on the family now. As if he’s running away with his tail between his legs. He’s spared from tumbling further down that slippery slope when Minho comes back on the other line, telling Changmin that he can come any time. 

He ends the call after asking Minho to pass on his gratitude and pads to the car, stopping right in front of Mihyun. He’s so much taller than her but right at that moment, he feels small. And useless. “Minho’s parents said I can stay over.”

Mihyun sighs. The Chois are very close family friends and they always look out for each other. Their son Minho is a couple years younger than Changmin, but they’ve become very good friends; in fact, Minho almost seems to worship him. All of the Chois are betas — at least, as far as she’s aware. She’ll have to talk to Minho’s mother to explain the situation when they get to the Chois’.

But for now, she nods. She hopes that the worry isn’t too apparent in her face. “That’s very kind of them. Make sure to thank them when you get there.” As Changmin nods miserably, Mihyun pats his cheek. “I’ll bring you more of your things in the afternoon, sweetheart.”

The drive to Minho’s place is dominated by silence. Changmin doesn’t feel like talking (out of fear that his mother might want to discuss what had happened tonight) and he stares out of the window, counting the streetlights in a desperate attempt at distraction. Mihyun is equally quiet and they pull into the Chois’ driveway twenty minutes later, where Minho is already waiting outside. He endures a bone-crushing hug from the younger boy and gets dragged to meet Minho’s parents, who wave away his apology for imposing upon them. Minho’s mother tells him to take a shower and settle in, but Changmin can tell that it’s gentle nudging to get him out of the way so they can talk properly with Mihyun. It’s a relief that he doesn’t have to do the explaining and he follows Minho’s lead, sinking himself into the comfort of his endless chatter.

He spends that entire night awake, staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft sound of Minho’s breathing.

He misses home. He misses _ Yunho_.

It’s the first time they’ve been separated for more than a couple of days and Changmin isn’t sure he’s coping well. Everything inside the world seems to have taken on a grey tinge, blurred around the edges. He operates autopilot — wakes up, eats breakfast and holds polite conversations with the Chois, and then goes to school, where he’s painfully aware of Yunho’s empty table in class. Sometimes, he’ll look over his shoulder and he can almost see Yunho biting his lips as he works on a complicated Math problem. Or Yunho grinning cheekily at him over the top of a book, sharing a private joke no one else understands. Or Yunho, simply laughing at some little things he finds amusing. The Yunho-shaped emptiness inside his chest grows and grows and _ grows_, and it’s unbearable. Made worse when he’s also being hounded by those who want to know why his brother is taking a week-long leave, why Yunho isn’t answering any call and if he’s coming back at all.

“He’s sick,” he says, the first few times. And then ignores them when they want to know more. His sour mood scares off most of them by the second day and he’s left in relative peace, except for when Jihye drops by with updates on Yunho’s condition. They’ve been texting since his first night at Minho’s but she still insists on seeing him during recess every single day, armed with homemade lunches and local gossips (about people he doesn’t even know and doesn’t care about — she isn’t deterred by any of that). She tells him that Yunho’s heat is petering off, will hopefully be gone by the end of the week and how he’s now lucid enough to ask about Changmin’s absence. 

“He wanted to know why you’re not at home,” Jihye says, picking at the mini sausages in their lunchbox. “So I told him you ran off to join the circus.” 

Changmin doesn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. His knuckles are white from how hard he’s gripping the edge of the table and he hopes that Jihye doesn’t notice. “Tell him I’ll send postcards.”

She shoots him an unimpressed look. “When are you coming back? Umma and Appa have been kinda… weird. I don’t like it.”

He frowns. “Weird how?”

But she gets tight-lipped and shrugs off the question, navigating the conversation back to the possibility of her getting his comic books collection if he (hypothetically) gets eaten by the circus bear. That throwaway comment lingers at the back of his head and the urge to go home intensifies, becoming even more urgent. It feels like he’s now an outsider, no longer privy of what’s happening in the family and that weighs on him like an anvil. 

The rest of the week skitter past quickly and when Yanghyun calls to say that they’re picking him up on Friday, after school, he almost howls in relief. He’s already packed by the time they arrive at the house and after thanking the Chois profusely for their hospitality, he hurls himself into the backseat of the car. Yanghyun just shakes his head, the outline of a smile on his lips but Changmin doesn’t miss how much older he looks now. 

Mihyun ruffles his hair and asks if he wants pizza for dinner. 

He shakes his head. “I just wanna go home.”

.

Yunho paces around the front door. He looks out, waiting for his parents to _ finally _ bring Changmin home. He’s been feeling much better for the past few days, but they hadn’t allowed Yunho go back to school or bring Changmin home until they knew that he was a hundred percent out of his heat.

_ Heat_. He shudders as he thinks of the word. It’s the worst thing he can remember ever experiencing — the heat itself, and with that, the horror of finding out that he’s an omega. Perhaps it isn’t even the fact that it was so uncomfortable and painful or even the idea that he is an omega that is troublesome, but the fact that he’d been so disruptive, for the whole family, and even the pack. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except that this isn’t going to be the only time that he’s going to make things so difficult for everyone; this is going to happen _ all the time_. And in a more personal way, he hopes that no one will ever find out who doesn’t need to know, because wolves have it hard even without the awful things that are said about omegas. He doesn’t need every wolf and human looking at him like a piece of meat.

But what does all that matter now, when Changmin’s finally coming home? It’ll all be better when he comes back, and Yunho’s sure of that. He cranes his neck to look as far as he can down the street. It’s been so many days since he’s seen Changmin, and he’s missed having the grey wolf curled up around him in bed as he falls asleep, and even more so as he wakes up. He picks at his fingernail nervously and bites at his lip — he doesn’t know whether their relationship is going to change now that he’s presented as an omega — and the very thought makes him feel so nervous and agitated that he’s practically bouncing up and down.

“Jumping on the spot isn’t going to make him come any sooner,” drawls Jihye. Even without looking at her, Yunho can tell that she’s rolling her eyes.

Yunho pouts. “I’m not allowed to miss my brother?”

“Oppa,” says Jihye with a sigh. She takes him by the arms and walks him with her to the living room. “They will get here when they get here.”

Jihye forces him to sit down on the couch. Defeated, Yunho tucks his knees under his chin and with Jihye’s chatter streaming constantly into one ear, is listening out for the sound of his parents’ car pulling into the driveway. When he hears it, he jumps off the couch and bolts to the front door, all the while that Jihye is in the middle of her sentence.

Changmin gets out of the car and closes the door, but he doesn’t take another step forward. The house (home, it’s his _ home_) looms over him and his stomach clenches with apprehension, keeping him there in the driveway. Mihyun is already walking towards the front door, but Yanghyun notices his reluctance and raises both eyebrows. There’s an expression on his face that Changmin doesn’t recognise, something old and weary and _ unfamiliar_, and he has to force himself to look away from his adopted father. He’d never felt uncomfortable when he’s around Yanghyun before — maybe this is his fault as well.

“Coming in?” Yanghyun asks. Something else lurks behind the question and Changmin can see it in his eyes, but it remains there. Unvoiced. “Your brother’s waiting for you.”

Changmin’s throat goes dry. It takes him a few seconds to swallow the urge to panic and he hitches the strap of his bag higher on his shoulder, before forcing his feet to move. “Y-Yeah. Sorry, just needed a moment.” 

Yanghyun nods and says nothing else. The front door is already open when Changmin gets there — he can hear Mihyun’s voice from inside — and he steps in with a, “I’m home.” 

The first thing he sees is Yunho, bright and smiling, and heading towards him like a wayward train on a collision course, shouting gleefully, “Changmin!” Changmin doesn’t even get the chance to move before he’s engulfed in a hug, Yunho’s arms wrapped around him and the older boy’s face pressed to his neck. Changmin stiffens, eyes going wide, and he doesn’t even realise what he’s doing when he pushes Yunho away. Stumbles back half a step, breathing gone a little quick as he stares at Yunho.

The distance between them feels like a gaping chasm.

Yunho lets go quickly and lets his fingers curl instead around the hem of his shirt. He looks surprised and even somewhat hurt by Changmin’s reaction, but after that expression passes, he offers Changmin a small smile. “Missed you.”

Changmin opens his mouth, isn’t sure what he’s about to say, when he senses Yanghyun behind him. He hears his father say, the man’s voice strangely flat and a touch more stern that what he’s used to, “Yunho, aren’t you too old to be hugging everyone who walks through the door?”

Yunho’s smile falters again. He looks up at Yanghyun to try to glean where that came from; his father had never told him he shouldn’t hug someone before this, and this is _ Changmin_, at that, who he hasn’t seen in a _ week — _ but his father’s eyes are unfeeling and resolved. Yunho reels back, and he’s trying to understand what just happened — Changmin pushing him away, his father telling him not to hug people anymore… Yunho feels his face growing hot as he realizes; they both probably think he’s some dirty, sex-obsessed omega that they should stay away from. The shame that comes with this realization is almost unbearable. He tucks his lips between his teeth and wrings his hands without even knowing it. He digs his fingernails into his hands.

“Um… yeah,” says Yunho, still somehow managing to smile again. “Sorry. Just… hadn’t seen Changmin in a while, so…”

The awkward silence permeates between the three of them until Yunho forces himself to nod. “I’m going to go upstairs and get some more rest, I’m still a bit tired from…” that probably sounds ridiculous too, he’s tired from _ what_, going into _ heat_? Yunho lets out the rest of the breath without any more words, then he starts another sentence. “I’m going to try to catch up on some homework.”

He turns and walks as quickly as he can to the stairs, a couple steps turning into runs, then when he reaches the safety of his room, he closes the door in haste. And finally letting the tears come, slides down onto the floor. He was really naive to think that things could go right back to how they were before this. Now it’s clearer, this is going to change everything.

He just wishes he had the chance to properly understand how precious the old days were before it all came crashing down around him. 

When Yunho takes off, that jerks Changmin out of his brief stupor and makes him realise what had just transpired. He didn’t mean to push the other boy away — his body reacted on instinct, recoiling from the memory of what he’d nearly done and that increasingly familiar ripple of self disgust took over his impulses. And after Yanghyun’s reprimand… the look on Yunho’s face had dug right through his chest, ripping him apart from the inside. Changmin drops his bag with the full intention of running after Yunho (he needs to _ apologise_, needs to tell Yunho that he will be better, will try harder), but before he can take more than two steps forward, he feels a hand on his arm. 

Yanking him back. 

Changmin nearly loses his balance, but manages to stay on his feet. His shoulder throbs in protest as he turns to stare in bewilderment at Yanghyun. “Appa, what—?” 

"We need to talk," he says, before brushing past Changmin to head to his home office. “Right now.”

This brusque behaviour is so unlike Yanghyun that it leaves Changmin rooted to the spot, with his heart trying to crawl its way into his throat. He looks to the stairs, where Yunho had disappeared to, but he knows better than to ignore Yanghyun’s order. Because that’s what it is: an order, from the head of the family. Isn’t even a request — _ we need to talk. _The way he phrased those words sends fear coiling into the pit of his stomach and he forces himself to keep a straight face as he follows his adopted father. Jihye looks up from where she’s lying on the couch, brows creased into a frown, and he waves at her. Even manages to summon a grin, as if everything is okay. She doesn’t look too convinced, but she goes back to her show without asking him questions he can’t answer. Small mercies.

The door closes behind him and he stands near the door, watching as Yanghyun rounds the table to go to his chair.

“Sit.”

Changmin barely keeps the wince from his face. He closes the distance and once he’s settled across the table, it’s another fight to not duck his head and break eye contact — Yanghyun is in full alpha mode, eyes flashing dark gold as he stares Changmin down. It’s the first time he’s done this in all the years that they’ve shared a home and the room instantly feels too small for both of them. Changmin’s instincts are screaming at him to keep very, very still in the face of a more dominant predator. The silence stretches into minutes, becoming even more suffocating with each passing second.

It’s like waiting for an execution, for the axe to drop onto his neck.

Changmin wants to crawl out of his skin and _ flee_.

“Yunho is an omega,” Yanghyun eventually says, shattering the quiet. Changmin winces then and his shoulders curl inwards a fraction, as if trying to shield himself from a physical blow. He sees Yanghyun’s hand on the table, fingers clenched tight, and that does nothing to make him feel better about this conversation. “He’s an _omega_ and there are… adjustments to be made." 

“Appa…” Changmin digs his nails into his thighs. He remembers Yunho’s pained expression earlier and that gives him the sliver of strength to continue, “That’s still Yunho-hyung. Nothing’s changed. He’s still—”

Changmin almost jumps when Yanghyun slams his fist on the table, rattling the picture frames he keeps there. “You don’t understand. You haven’t seen the cases that go through my office, every single day. They’re—” Yanghyun shakes his head, cutting himself off. His knuckles have gone white. “The world is a dangerous place for omegas and no matter how hard I’ve worked to push for changes in our community, there are still those who are too comfortable in the old ways to accept that they’re wrong. Too many of them. They see him as nothing more than something to be owned, to be shown off at parties. With that kind of degenerates around, we can’t be too careful.”

Yanghyun pauses, studying Changmin intently. His scrutiny is as sharp as a knife and it feels as though he’s sinking the blade deep into Changmin’s skin, right through sinews and muscles and bones. Flaying him open to see if he’s one of the threats Yanghyun is talking about. 

He learns that it’s a chilling ordeal, being at the end of that calculating look from Jung Yanghyun.

“Yunho should conduct himself differently.” Yanghyun leans back, but his expression doesn’t falter from its severity. He looks as if he’s in a courtroom, delivering harsh truths for the greater good. There’s not an ounce of tenderness in his countenance — just sharp edges, unyielding. ”You know as well as I do that he’s too… soft. He trusts too easily and sooner or later, someone will take advantage of that.”

Changmin pales at the ugly implication behind the words and he surges forward, both hands gripping the table. “I’ll keep him safe! I’ll make sure nothing happens to him!”

There’s a mournful tilt to Yanghyun’s mouth when he says, “You can’t promise that, son. Nobody can. Not even me.” 

He swallows the indignant protest at the tip of his tongue, because Yanghyun is right, isn’t he? Changmin had already failed _ twice _and his current track record guarantees that he’s going to fuck things up in the future. Right now, he’s the least qualified person to keep Yunho safe. The realisation rips the fight right out of him and he deflates, sinking back into his seat. 

“What… What can I do, Appa?” he asks, voice splintering as he chokes back tears. This is not a time for helplessness and he doesn’t want Yanghyun to think of him as too weak to be useful. “I want to help. I’ll— I’ll do whatever it takes—”

Yanghyun smiles then, although it’s far from the ones he usually bestows on them. This is a slow, forlorn approximation of the real thing and Changmin thinks about how horrifically this must be hurting him. “Look after him. As much as you can.” 

It’s an oath Changmin would’ve taken over and over again. He nods and the grim smile he exchanges with Yanghyun is a mutual understanding of secrets. He’s allowed to leave the room then, carrying the weight of Yanghyun’s expectation like an anvil sitting heavily in his chest. It makes it harder to breathe, but Changmin had gone through worse. He’ll survive this. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep Yunho out of harm’s way and if he has to set boundaries neither of them have before, perhaps that’s for the best. Climbing the stairs give him some time to compose himself and once he’s standing in front of Yunho’s door, he no longer feels like throwing up.

Much.

“Hyung?” He knocks, resting his forehead on the wood as he waits. “Can I come in?”

Yunho, who is still sitting on the floor, never having moved, starts as he hears the knock. The knock is unfamiliar — he can't remember the last time Changmin knocked before walking into Yunho's room. He isn't sure exactly what he had been expecting, but to hear the word 'hyung' and the gentle tone of his voice is so relieving that it fills him with hope.

It might take time, but maybe he'll still be able to convince Changmin that he's still the same old Yunho, the same pack brother that he was before all this happened. Maybe, eventually, Changmin will see that nothing has changed, that Yunho _ didn't _ just suddenly become untouchable, even though it might be his first thought. Maybe if Yunho tries hard enough, everything will go back to exactly the way it was.

The prospect itself of that is comforting. 

Yunho shuffles to his feet quickly and presses the fabric of his shirt over his eyes, and hopes that it's not too obvious that he'd been crying. He lets himself take a breath or two before turning the doorknob to open it.

Even just seeing Changmin there is comforting too. He's been such a constant in Yunho's entire life that it's hard not to be comforted by his very presence. 

Yunho wants to throw himself into the younger boy's arms, hug him and cry into his shoulder, and tell him sorry — but he stops himself. 

He doesn't think he would ever mend completely if Changmin pushes him away again, and he doesn't want to take that chance. 

So instead, he forces himself to smile. To show Changmin that he's still here, if he ever wants to be friends again. To show him that no matter what happens, Yunho would never want to push Changmin away.

"You know you can always come in," says Yunho, trying to sound natural, but he feels his eyes watering again. He tries to blink back the tears. 

Changmin had never thought of Yunho as fragile before — they’re almost the same height, the same build and it’s hard to think of his mirror image as someone who’s in danger of shattering easily under pressure. His protectiveness over the older boy isn’t a reflection of Yunho’s perceived weakness; it’s more of an acquired habit that Changmin has allowed to grow throughout the years. Yunho _ is not _ fragile. Even after seeing him in heat, this conviction hadn’t changed.

Until now. 

Maybe it’s the way Yunho’s smile doesn’t sit right on his face, maybe it’s the way he’s standing too far away, like they have an entire world between them. Maybe it’s how bright his eyes are with unshed tears, staring at Changmin with the kind of uncertainty that’s both unfamiliar and terrifying. Maybe it’s an amalgamation of all those things and Changmin’s own guilt for pushing him away, but Yunho looks like he might break apart if Changmin tries to touch him. So he keeps his distance, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans so that Yunho doesn’t see how badly they’re shaking. 

Changmin thinks he’s smiling, but he isn’t sure. He can’t feel his face. “Are you feeling better?”

Yunho nods enthusiastically, though he's careful not to nod so much that the tears will fall. "Oh, yeah." He chuckles. "Much better. I was… I was not myself. I'm doing much better now."

“That’s… good, hyung.” 

Talking to Yunho shouldn’t be this hard and yet, it is. As if they’ve been turned to strangers in the week that they hadn’t seen each other. It’s like walking on a thin sheet of ice, not knowing if his next step is going to plunge them both right down. Changmin wants nothing more than to lurch forward and gather Yunho in his arms, to push his face into the crook of Yunho’s neck and breathe him in. The wolf in him demands it, howling louder than anything else inside his head, but— 

—he isn’t allowed any of that now. 

And for Yunho’s sake, he’s going to do this right. 

Changmin squares his shoulders and exhales slowly. “I just want you to know I’m sorry.” He’d rehearsed them, an entire speech, during all those sleepless nights at Minho’s. The words have deserted him then and he’s left with dregs of what he’d wanted to say, but he can’t stop now. Not while he can still hear Yanghyun’s voice echoing inside his head: _ look after him_. “That night… I didn’t mean to do that to you.” Another pause, another thick swallow as his eyes skitter to the side, unable to look at Yunho when he continues, “It shouldn’t have happened, hyung.”

Yunho stares — what does Changmin have anything to apologize about? He diverts his gaze and looks at the scratch on the wall, the blue paint having been peeled off to reveal the white drywall underneath in the shape of Changmin's nails — and even in the haziness of his heat, Yunho knew that his mother had spent a good half an hour scrubbing off all the blood that he'd left on the wall. That was probably it. He doesn't remember what it's from, but he knows that whatever it was, Changmin was not doing it to hurt him.

"You didn't do anything wrong," says Yunho, eyes wide. "You didn't do anything to hurt me. Ever. And you don't have to apologize for anything." 

It strikes Changmin then, like a sledgehammer to his guts — Yunho _doesn’t_ _remember. _He must’ve been so out of his mind, too high on instincts and pheromones, during the heat that he completely forgets what they’ve almost done. The way he’d begged for Changmin (_could’ve been any alpha, if he wasn’t there_), how sweetly he smelled (_it lingers, on his skin in his nose all over the thin veneer of his soul_), how perfectly their bodies slotted together (_he still dreams of that, the slide of their naked skin_). How Changmin had almost forced himself onto Yunho. It doesn’t matter if the older boy had wanted it — it was the heat talking and Changmin should’ve known better. But there it is; Yunho forgets and he remembers, and he wants to _scream_. He feels his mouth go dry and his throat close up, struggling under the claustrophobia of keeping everything inside so he can spare Yunho the pain of knowing. 

Ignorance is a kinder mistress, Changmin decides. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeats, riding the words harder. “It won’t happen again.”

"Well, I'm sure Umma and Appa are more upset about it than I am," says Yunho, observing the scratch on the wall a bit more closely to try to assess the damage. "I don't care, it doesn't bother me." He smiles again. "Really. Don't even think about it."

Changmin bites the inside of his mouth and nods, stiffly. “Okay. I’ll—” He pauses. Swallows. “I’ll leave you to your homework then.”

Changmin makes a turn to walk away, and Yunho steps forward. He reaches out to take his arm, but stops himself before he can touch him. “Hey —“ Changmin turns back towards Yunho, looking up at him. 

The way Changmin’s looking at Yunho is still the same, he can still see it — the way he’s looking at Yunho like he’s so worried. The concerned eyes are so far from the disgust that Yunho might expect from him, and Yunho hopes and hopes that the day won’t be far until all of this distance between them closes again. Yunho bites his lip. “I don’t… I had no idea,” says Yunho quietly. “I really… didn’t know. I just… I’m really sorry it happened so fast, and you had to go away even though you had nothing to do with it. I’m really, really sorry.” He looks into Changmin’s eyes. “Please forgive me?”

The apology almost becomes Changmin’s undoing — none of this is Yunho’s fault. They assumed he was a beta for years. Who could’ve anticipated that he’d turned out to be an omega, that his body would be forced into a heat because he’d been shifting a lot more than usual. If anything,_ Changmin _ should’ve seen the signs, since he’s the closest to the older boy. He was too entrenched in his selfish happiness in seeing Yunho’s wolf around so much that he didn’t notice anything amiss. _ He _ screwed up and now they’re stuck trying to navigate the aftermath of this shitstorm, without any map or manual. Changmin doesn’t know what to do, except that they can’t go back to the way they were before.

“There’s nothing to forgive, hyung. It’s better that way,” he says, trying to appear nonchalant. As if it Yunho’s absence hadn’t driven him nearly crazy. Changmin shrugs and take a step back, forcing a wide grin onto his face. “I’m glad you’re okay. Really.”

And he escapes, like the coward that he is, because he knows if he stays any longer, he won’t be able to stop himself from gravitating back into Yunho’s orbit. His room is just as he’d left it — someone made the bed, most probably his mother — and he closes the door as if it’s the lid of a coffin. He stands there, breathing gone quicker as he tries to stop himself from crying, and it takes him torturous seconds to lock the door.

Changmin turns and, with his back against the door, slides to the floor. 

Draws his knees up and buries his face there, trying to shut out the rest of the world.

.

**tbc**

.


	7. Chapter 7

.

Mihyun opens the package of sliced pork belly, and hands it to her mate to grill. A barbecue party, for having the whole family together for the first time in a while — she thinks it’s very fitting. Yanghyun takes the package from her silently.

Of course, Mihyun is worried about Yunho too; she knows that being an omega is not going to be easy, and she wishes that her sweet Yunho didn’t have to be one — but he is. And fortunately, his son is strong and smart, and has a wonderful brother and a fierce sister who would go to war for him. Her husband, on the other hand — he’s _ paralyzed _with worry. Quite literally.

Yanghyun still stands at the stove, absolutely motionless, with the package of meat in his hand.

“…Honey, you’re going to have to turn on the stove,” prompts Mihyun, raising her eyebrows.

He jerks to attention, looking around as if he doesn’t know where he is. His brows furrow when he notices the pork belly and it’s taking his brain a few long seconds to connect the dots. Mihyun is still staring at him, a bit judgmentally to be honest, and when he finally remembers why he’s standing in front of a cold stove, he lets out a loud, awkward laughter. 

“Yeah! I should!” Yanghyun fumbles with the knob, almost dropping the sliced meat. He gets it going post-haste and grins at his mate, flashing her a thumbs up as the grill pan heats up. He slowly puts it down when she just snorts at him and looks around the otherwise empty kitchen. “Where are the kids?”

“Shouldn’t you be the one to know?” asks Mihyun rather sharply. She pulls out a knife, and she sees Yanghyun eyeing it. She looks pointedly at Yanghyun, and then starts slicing the garlic with it. “I saw you taking Changmin into your office.”

Yanghyun stiffens, trying to gauge where she’s going with this and if he’s in trouble. While his mate is a beta, she can give any alpha a run for their money when it comes to protective instincts. He should know — he’s been on the receiving end a few times too many. There’s smoke rising from the pan and he takes that as his cue to put in the sliced pork belly, filling the kitchen with the fragrant smell of cooking meat. But it’s not a distraction that lasts and soon, he’s running out of pork belly to save him from Mihyun’s possible wrath. 

“We needed to talk,” he says, carefully. He grabs the tongs and starts poking at the sizzling strips of juicy meat. “Guy things.” He pauses. “Alpha things.”

“Mmhmm,” says Mihyun skeptically. “What did you tell him? Because you should have seen his face when he came out. Or, actually, you probably _ did _ see it.”

Yanghyun knows, of course — Changmin’s feelings were laid bare, right in front of him, and he wishes he could’ve spared his adopted son the talk. He didn’t enjoy having to put so much pressure on Changmin’s young shoulders, but they both have their responsibilities and the sooner Changmin learns his, the better. He retrieves the scissors from its holder and starts cutting up the pork belly into bite-sized pieces, keeps his eyes on them as he chooses his words carefully.

“It’s important for him to understand Yunho’s condition, and how it’s going to affect all of us. I just told him the truth about what’s out there. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Mihyun sighs and places the mushrooms on the grill. “Honey, you have to rethink this. We shouldn’t let this affect us. Yes, it’s going to change some things, but the kids shouldn’t feel like their world has been turned upside down because of this.”

“Their world is _ different _ now.” His voice is gentle, but it’s clear that he expects no argument on this. Not for the first time, Yanghyun finds himself wondering how they could’ve missed something as monumental as Yunho’s omega status and if it has something to do with his son’s refusal to shift. He frowns at the mushrooms when he thinks about the paperwork they’re going to have to file on Yunho’s behalf. He’s going to have to get them sealed as soon as possible and hopes that it’ll go unnoticed. He turns to Mihyun, still wearing the frown. “I’m taking preemptive measures to make sure all of our children know what to expect. Changmin, especially. He’ll be affected by this and you know it.”

Mihyun purses her lips and slides the kimchi from the chopping board onto the grill. She disagrees with him, but there is no point in arguing with her mate right now. She turns her back on Yanghyun and opens the cupboards to fish out bowls for the onion and garlic. “Can you call the kids down for dinner?”

Yanghyun knows that the argument is far from over, but he’s thankful that Mihyun doesn’t push the issue. Placing the tongs onto the counter, he pads over to the stairs to call for the boys. Jihye is in the living room, working on some kind of a project as she bops her head to whatever’s playing on her phone. He goes quietly towards her, waits for a few seconds and yanks an earphone off as he yells, “_Dinner!_” She almost upended her entire work in response, whirling around to scream at him for ruining her life or something. He isn’t listening, since he’s too busy laughing at his little girl. 

It’s a good thing he can always rely on Jihye to not change. 

Changmin scrubs a hand over his face when he hears Yanghyun calling them down and shakily gets to his feet. His face feels hot and bloated, and he throws his bag onto the bed before he heads out to the bathroom. The door to Yunho’s room is now tightly shut and Changmin looks away before he can do anything foolish. Like barging in and pouncing on the older boy, like he would’ve done a week ago. He splashes cold water onto his face and wets the back of his neck, looking into the mirror with water still dripping from his eyelashes. He doesn’t look any different, maybe a bit tired and his eyes are still red-rimmed, but he doesn’t look like someone whose entire world had tilted out of control.

Which means this is acceptable. He can do this. 

Unfortunately, saying it out loud to his reflection does little to ease the hurt still coiled tightly inside his chest. Changmin dries his face and goes downstairs, to be greeted by the sight of Jihye throwing multiple pens at the back of Yanghyun’s head. 

Mihyun is serenely working the grill in the middle of that chaos, so of course he makes a beeline towards her. “Do I want to know what happened?”

Mihyun just lets out a sigh and hands the plate for Changmin to hold while she plates the meat. As she does, she glances at his face. He looks a bit better than when he’d first come out of Yanghyun’s office, but comparing this Changmin to the one who was bounding into the van earlier today— 

She finishes loading the mountain of food onto the plate and after she puts the tongs down, she reaches up to pat the small of his back. “We have lots more, so I want you to eat as much as you want. We saved a bunch on groceries while you were gone, but I much prefer having you home.”

Changmin lets out a bark of laughter at her jibe and this almost feels normal, like he’s never been away. He takes the plate from her hand, bringing both to the table, where everything is already set up. Yanghyun joins him then and Changmin nods at the grin he gets, although that doesn’t stop his stomach from clenching at the memory of his grim words. 

Yanghyun pilfers a piece of meat from the plate and raises an eyebrow at Changmin. “Where’s your brother?”

He shrugs, pulling out a chair closer to where Yanghyun sits instead of his usual space next to Yunho’s. If his adopted father notices, he doesn’t say anything about it. “Still upstairs, I think.”

As if on cue, Yunho comes down the stairs and enters the dining room, where he stops for a second, seeing that for the first time ever, Changmin has not taken the seat next to Yunho’s usual seat at the table, he feels his face flush again. He considers running back upstairs and just hiding under his blanket out of sheer humiliation, but he bites his lip and slides out the chair and sits. He almost feels like an intruder at this table and can’t look at anyone out of how ashamed he is, and just chews on the inside of his cheek, and prays for dinner to pass quickly.

Jihye is the one who takes Changmin's usual space, after throwing him a weird look. She nudges an elbow into his side and asks, with her usual penchant for no-nonsense meddling, "Did you fight with Changmin-oppa again?"

Yunho starts, rabbit-eyed, and shakes his head at her. And then he glances at Changmin to check if his answer is correct, because maybe Changmin thinks differently.

Changmin had hoped dinner would be a relatively quiet affair, but he should’ve known better. He grimaces at Jihye’s question and when Yunho turns to him, he can only hope that his smile doesn’t look as bitter as it feels. “Of course not.”

And then to avoid his nosy little sister’s version of the Spanish Inquisition, Changmin starts heaping meat and vegetables into his bowl, before determinedly shoving them into his mouth. He can feel Mihyun’s concern in the quiet of her scrutiny and almost breathes a sigh of relief when Yanghyun starts talking about new programs being carried out at the community hall. He’s only half-listening, until he hears his name mentioned. Changmin looks up, swallowing a half-chewed mouthful of rice and kimchi and trying to look like he had been paying attention.

Recognising that it’s a lost cause, he comes up with a very eloquent, “Huh?”

Yanghyun throws him a bemused look. “I said, they’re looking for a swimming instructor during the weekends. You should volunteer a couple of hours, get out of the house more.”

“Oh.” Changmin doesn’t think babysitting potential drowning victims to be an ideal way to spend his weekends, but Yanghyun looks enthused by the idea and he can’t say ‘no’ to that. “Yeah, sure. Sign me up.”

Mihyun smiles at her younger son and turns to Yunho, who hasn’t said a single word this entire time, and is just quietly picking at his food. “That sounds nice. And Yunho, you could help teach dance, that would be lovely.”

There’s a spark in Yunho’s dark eyes as he looks first at his mother, then at Changmin. Dancing has always been a passion of his, something he truly loves and excels at. He started in the beginning of middle school, when he stumbled across a dance crew practising their moves in the backyard of the community hall. They’re kind enough to let him watch and he instantly fell for the freedom expressed in their movements, wanting nothing more than to be part of them. His parents had encouraged his newfound interest, especially Mihyun, and he was welcomed into that same crew a few months later. It’s been almost two weeks since he last saw them and like his mother had pointed out, it _ would _ be lovely to share his love for dancing with the younger kids.

And he’ll get to spend a few extra hours with Changmin if their classes overlap. Maybe they can work on getting closer again, finding what little scraps of time to spend together to remind them how it used to.

Yunho grins, his expression clearing into eager happiness as he says, “I can—”

Until Yanghun cuts him off with a flat, “No.” 

Yunho looks at his father, confused. _ Why not? _ Yunho takes a moment to think of what he wants to say, but his mother comes to his rescue.

“Honey—“ begins Mihyun, putting her hand on Yanghyun’s shoulder. “It will be good for Yunho too.”

Yanghyun places his chopsticks down, doesn’t even look as if he registers the hand on his shoulder as he stares at Yunho. His expression is carefully neutral, although it’s starting to take on a harder edge. “I’ve had a look at your grades when I went to the school last week. They’re not enough if you want to get into a good university. And one of your teachers told me you’ve been slacking off in class as well. Is that right?” 

Yunho freezes, just stares at his father. “Um…” He doesn’t really know how to respond to that, everything his father is saying is so _ different _ from what Yunho knows of him. It’s true, his grades are not as high as Changmin’s, but _ no one _ could call them low. And it isn’t as if he’s ever kept his grades secret from his parents, they always knew, and they’d never told him that they were a problem. And slacking off in class — okay, he might have nodded off a couple of times, but he _ always _ catches up at home.

The protests are on the tip of his tongue, but he swallows them down.

Changmin’s stomach churns as he listens to Yanghyun’s cutting words, watching his adopted father with growing horror. The temperature inside the kitchen seems to have plummeted in record time — Yunho has gone pale and quiet, Jihye’s looking between her father and her brother like she’s waiting for one of them to implode and Mihyun… Well, Mihyun’s expression is downright glacial. It’s been years since he’d seen that look on her face: the last time was when Yanghyun had told her about what happened on Changmin’s first day of school, about the cage. He knows that she’s more than a little displeased, but that’s the least of his concern right now. His eyes linger on Yunho and the sight of the older boy looking so crushed prompts Changmin to speak up.

“Hyung is doing fine, Appa.” He barely manages to not flinch when Yanghyun turns to him. “I mean— if you talked to our History teacher, she’s a hardass on everyone so it’s unfair to—” 

“That’s _ enough,_ Changmin.” Yanghyun’s voice brooks no argument and the silence that follows is near deafening. He’s addressing Yunho again when he says, “You should stay home and study. I think it’s about time you quit your dance crew so you can focus on your grades and entrance exam next year.”

Yunho drops his chopsticks on the table and stares at his father in horror. “A…Appa,” he stutters. “No, it’s — it’s what keeps me sane, I can’t quit, please — I’ll bring my grades up, I promise!“

“Until that happens, this is not up for discussion. You can continue with your hapkido club, but that’s it.” The finality in that statement punches the air out of Changmin’s lungs. Because he knows how much the dance crew means to Yunho, how devastating this is to the older boy and he can’t even imagine _ why _Yanghyun is doing this. No one at the table seems to have an idea as well, as they stare at him. Yanghyun returns to his bowl, unaffected by the loud silence hanging over their head, and says, “Pass me the potatoes, Jihye.”

“Why… Why are you doing this?” says Yunho, his voice cracking and his eyes starting to well up. “Appa, I know you hate that I’m an omega, but I didn’t _ choose _ to be one. Please — Please don’t punish me for that, it’s — _ it’s not fair_!”

The look Yanghyun levels on Yunho is sharp and uncompromising. “If you’re going to spend the entire dinner arguing with me, you might as well go to your room now.”

Yunho is about to argue when there is a loud clang from beside him. He looks, perplexed, and sees that his mother has just slammed her own chopsticks down on the table with his eyes closed. When she opens them, it is clear that she is absolutely furious. But when she speaks, her voice is eerily calm and level.

“Why don’t all of you go to your rooms.”

It is very rare to see their mother this angry, and the fear that it instills in them is so strong that at the dismissal, the three siblings get up hastily and scramble over each other to get up the stairs; both Jihye and Changmin even opt to shift into their wolves to get up the stairs faster. As soon as they are out of sight, Mihyun clenches her jaw and snatches her mate’s bowl of food away from him. She dumps everything onto the plate of untouched meat in the middle of the table and does the same for her own bowl, and the three children’s as Yanghyun gapes.

“What are you doing?” he asks, watching her with wide eyes and a premonition of doom curling around his spine. He wonders if she’d notice if he also goes back to his room. “I was eating that…”

Mihyun whirls around so quickly towards her mate that her stray hairs fly around her face. “You think you deserve to _ eat _ right now? _ After what you just did?_” she whispers viciously, but if she hadn’t been afraid of her children hearing, she is sure she’d be screaming it at the top of her lungs.

Yanghyun has been a lawyer long enough to recognise a trick question when he hears one. And he’s known his mate long enough to understand that she only ever gets this angry when it comes to their children. He frowns, hates that he’s expected to defend himself to the one person he thought would understand him the most. “I’m only thinking about what’s best for him.”

“_ Oh _ — oh, what’s _ best _ for him,” she says. She picks up the plate of mussed-up, now-inedible food and Yanghyun flinches for a split second, clearly afraid that Mihyun might throw it in his face. As if she’d be that classless. “You think making Yunho think that we hate him for being an omega is what’s best for him?”

“That’s a misunderstanding we’ll have to explain to explain to him.” Her anger rolls over him like ripples of intense heat and he’d like nothing more than to pacify her, to tell her that he’ll take back everything he’d said to Yunho. But this is much bigger than the both of them — this is the future of their child and he needs her to understand. “I don’t _ hate _ that my son is an omega. I hate those who think omegas are nothing more than decorations, just a warm hole waiting for them at the end of the day. I hate that I can’t change what _ our _ community thinks when they see _ our son _ and all he is to them is _ an omega_.” He draws in a deep breathe, reaching out to grasp Mihyun’s hand. “Yunho has to rise above that. He has to show them that he’s better than average, damned near the best he can be. And he’ll only be able to do it without distractions in his life.”

Mihyun yanks her hand out of Yanghyun’s grip furiously. “So the way you’re going to do that is by sending the message that he’s not deserving of anything he loves, or deserving of love from you, all just because he’s on omega.” She drops the plate of leftovers onto the table, and a couple of rice grains bounce off from the force of it. “Good thinking, Jung Yanghyun. So now he’s going to learn that his own father either, one, doesn’t love him anymore, or two, doesn’t believe that he can survive.”

He closes his eyes and scrubs a hand over his face, feeling like he’d aged ten years in the span of five minutes. This has taken a much worse turn, one he hadn't anticipated and despite his earlier conviction that it would be best for Yunho to simply concentrate on his studies, perhaps he’d been too rash in getting his point across. It’s impossible to miss how he’d hurt Yunho’s feelings when it comes to the dance crew, but he does so with the intention to keep his son safe. They might have been fine with him when they thought Yunho was a beta but if they find out that he’s actually an omega — Yanghyun can think of so many ways for things to go wrong. He’d worked too many abuse and criminal cases involving omegas that they’ve seared themselves into his mind.

If Yunho ends up as part of that statistic— 

“You know as well as I do that I would die for him, for any of our kids.” His voice is quiet and he looks across the table, to the seat his oldest son had occupied during dinner. Yunho had looked smaller during the week, as if uncomfortable in his own skin. That only solidifies his resolve — he’ll make sure that his son’s protected, that he’d be able to live his life without falling prey to the stigmas that come with being an omega. “This is how he’ll survive, Mihyun. As his father, I’ll make sure of it.”

Mihyun grits her teeth, glares at her mate once more, and picks up the plate again. There’s clearly no point in arguing with her mate right now — his resolve is clear. “The world is not that simple, Yanghyun, and you should know that better than anyone,” says Mihyun angrily. “Yunho doesn’t deserve that from you.”

Yanghyun _ knows _ that the world isn’t simple, but he’d be damned if he doesn’t try to make it so for his children. The sinking realisation of how little he’d done for their future, even after all these years of fighting for their rights, makes him even more determined to get this right. He shakes his head, clenching his jaw to stop himself from saying anything else. This is an argument that would go round in circles and while he wishes that Mihyun would be able to see it from his point of view, he knows she isn’t one to relent easily. 

“He’ll understand,” he says, getting up from the table. His mate has turned her back to him, facing the sink as the plate clatters loudly, and he sighs. Today is supposed to be a celebration of sorts, but it had spiralled out of his control. He’ll apologise to her later, even if he’s still convinced that this is the best way for them to go forward. “I’ll be in my office.”

Mihyun lets out a sigh loud enough for her husband to hear as he pads over to his office, and she is so frustrated that she has to bite her lip not to start shouting at him. Instead, as soon as she hears his office door close, she takes a deep breath and makes her way upstairs. The anger gives way to worry and concern as she approaches Yunho’s room.

It’s not often that the boys aren’t playing in Yunho’s room after dinner, but today, both of their doors are firmly closed, and all of the children are silent. Mihyun knows that being an omega will change Yunho’s life, and that’s only to be expected — but she hates that it also changes their family dynamic so blatantly and dramatically. She recognises that Yanghyun has seen his fair share of the terrible things that happened (and are still happening), but that’s no reason to not trust his own son to navigate the world one day at a time. Mihyun knocks on the door, listening for any sound from the other side. 

“Yunho?” There’s no answer. Mihyun waits for a few seconds before she knocks again, louder this time. “It’s Umma. Can we talk?”

Yunho had just been lying with his eyes closed, praying for his father to change his mind about making him stop dancing. It seemed like his mother was going to advocate for him as they left the dinner table, so as soon as he realizes that it’s her at the door, he bolts upright and more or less runs to the door so that he can let her in. 

“Umma,” says Yunho breathlessly and expectantly. “What did he say? Did — Did Appa say I could dance again?”

The sight of Yunho’s hopeful face is enough to break her heart all over again. Mihyun goes into the room and takes his hand, guiding him back to the bed so they can talk. The mattress dips under their weight and she holds his hand with both of hers, squeezing lightly as she wonders how best to break the news. Yunho doesn’t deserve any of this and she wishes that she could’ve made everything instantly better with a wave of her hand. “We think it’s best if you take a short break, just until you’re more… settled. Your check-ups and those new medications you’re taking; they might have side-effects and we wouldn’t want anything bad to happen if you overexert yourself.” She smiles, a soft, apologetic curl of her lips. “It won’t be long, sweetheart, I’m sure.” 

Yunho closes his eyes as he feels all of the strength that he’d gathered up leave him. His shoulders slump, and he hangs his head. He doesn’t even know what to say; he just shakes his head and tries not to cry. Because despite what his mother says, it’s obvious that it’s not going to be just a short time. He’s not going to be allowed to dance again.

“I know it’s not about the medications,” whispers Yunho. He looks up at his mother. “It’s not even about my grades, is it? It’s about me being an omega.” 

His hands clench into fists. 

“It’s about me being an omega, and Appa hating that.”

Mihyun’s brows crease into a frown. “Your father doesn’t hate omegas, Yunho! He wouldn’t hate _ you _ just because you’re one. Why would you even think that?”

“He had no problem with my grades until he found out that I was an omega. He had no problem with me dancing, he had no problem with me touching anyone until he found out that I was an omega. And you know —” Yunho takes in a deep breath. “I bet he didn’t know that he hated us. Until he found out that his son is one. And suddenly, it’s not so acceptable to be an omega, right?”

All of that just pours out of him, all of the frustration and the hurt with it. Even though he knows that his father is not the type of person who’d hate anyone because of the way they were born, he’s punishing Yunho for being an omega, and it’s so painful that he can’t help but feel this way. 

It’s hard to rationalise everything Yanghyun had said and done, just because Mihyun doesn’t think that Yunho is in the frame of mind to accept ‘_he did all that because he loves you very much_’ as the reason behind Yanghyun’s sudden change of attitude. It sounds weak even to her own ears, but that’s the only explanation they both have. While she doesn’t agree with her mate’s way of handling their son’s biological revelation, she doesn’t want Yunho to think the worst of his father. He’s too young to understand the fierce protectiveness of an alpha over his pack, and that sometimes, instincts override even the most logical of minds. 

She raises her hand to palm Yunho’s cheek, hates that she can already see the chipped edges of Yunho’s once-bright veneer. There’s bitterness lurking behind each word and it’s going to poison him right through if she doesn’t set this straight. She tilts his face so that they’re locked eyes and, with a firm voice, she says, “You must never doubt that your father loves you and nothing will change that. Not you being a beta or an omega. _ Nothing._ He worries, sweetheart, and he’s trying to protect you the only way he knows how.” She exhales slowly, wishing that she can go back to when they were cubs and do everything over. Perhaps she’s to blame for this as well, for failing to notice her own son’s struggles. He looks down at his lap, his expression unreadable, as she continues, “You’re special, you have always been. But now— You have to understand that being an omega is challenging, at best. Your father… he wants you to be prepared.”

She hopes that he would understand, no matter how difficult it is to grasp.

Yunho isn't sure how anything his father is doing helps him be prepared anything— except maybe to start getting used to the discrimination he's about to face for the rest of his life — but the gentle way his mother soothes him does help with the acute pain in the moment. So he turns towards her, looks her in the eyes, and smiles to show his appreciation for that. "At least you're still the same."

Yunho wants to embrace his mother in a hug, to _ be _ hugged and comforted, but he doesn't make the move. Not after what his father told him earlier.

She knows him too well to not notice that and her heart ached for her son, who had never hesitated to show his affections before. The hurt must’ve run deeper than she first thought and she surges forward to hug him, wrapping her arms tightly around Yunho as she whispers against his neck, “We love you, sweetheart. Always.”

The feeling of being so securely _ held _ gives him an overwhelming amount of reassurance. He closes his eyes and wraps his own arms around her smaller figure. "Thank you," he whispers. Times like these, he thinks his mother must be magic, knowing exactly what he needs.

The hug lasts for as long as he needs and once they part, Mihyun cards her fingers through his hair and leans up to press a kiss to his forehead. He will need more time to come to terms with how his world has shifted and she’s going to be there for him, to make sure that he has someone to confide in, instead of carrying the weight of everything on his own shoulders. She starts to stand, only to remember something she’d been meaning to ask since the end of his heat. It was one of the more harrowing weeks in her life — how pitiful he’d been, how his whines, whimpers rose and fell like the waves, cresting during mid-week, and how helpless she felt as she watched him suffer through the cruel reality of his biology.

She hopes that was the worst of it, but knows better than to believe nothing else would go wrong. 

“Sweetheart.” Mihyun pauses, giving herself time to consider the question. Only to decide that it’s better to ask now than later. “Are you feeling better about shifting now? After— your heat?”

Yunho freezes, and feels his heart jump into his throat as soon as she asks the question. He'd forgotten about it as he was dealing with the heat, but being reminded of it in itself is nothing short of nauseating. He wants to please his mother and say yes— and even more so now, he probably needs to prove his place in the pack — but the truth is that be feels exactly the same as before the heat. He looks up at his mother apologetically and shakes his head.

"No," he mutters uncertainly. "I… really don't think the heat had anything to do with… this. I didn't tell you earlier, but… the shifting… that's been a problem for a really, really long time, Umma. For almost as long as I can remember."

Mihyun had hoped that his problem with shifting stemmed from some kind of biological urges prior to his heat, but apparently it’s not. And they’re nowhere close to figuring out why. “Don’t you think you should talk about this with Doctor Kim? Or we can contact a counsellor, someone from the Youth Foundation?”

Yunho winces at the prospect, but he nods to keep his mother happy. "I'll think about it." Maybe if he _ thinks about it _ for long enough, his mother will forget about it. 

“I’ll call Dahee and ask her if she can recommend someone,” Mihyun says, thinking of her old friend from the foundation. When she was working with Yanghyun during the early days of their practice, Dahee and her husband had been their staunchest supporters, and they meet for lunch once every month or so. Mihyun trusts her to know who would suit Yunho’s needs best. “You should rest. You’re going back to school tomorrow and you’re going to need all your energy.”

She watches him nod, although his expression is still glum, and that makes her hug him again. Hoping that he understands how much he means to his family, his pack and that he shouldn’t have to think that being an omega changes anything. That he’s _ less _ than he was before because of it. Another kiss to his forehead and she leaves him be, closing the door to the sight of Yunho sitting on the bed, looking down quietly at the hands on his lap. Mihyun stands there in the hallway for a few minutes, her ire rising the longer Yunho’s words circle inside her head.

Yanghyun has a lot of explaining to do after this. 

.

If Yunho's absence is a torture, having him around is a different kind of hell altogether. Changmin stuffs his mouth full of gimbap as Jihye chatters on about her latest Science project, the table uncomfortably quiet aside from the sound of his sister's voice. Yunho's head is bent over his own share, but he isn’t eating and hasn’t said a word since he came down from his room. Yanghyun and Mihyun haven’t talked to each other at all this morning and Changmin tries to remember the last time his adopted parents had an argument so big that Mihyun gave Yanghyun the cold shoulder. He feels his throat constricting as his eyes flicker to Yunho again, takes in the downturned curl of his mouth and his pallid skin, and Yanghyun’s stern reminder is the only thing that keeps him from asking the older boy if he’s okay. 

Changmin swallows and pushes himself away from the table. “I’m done,” he murmurs, standing up to grab his bag from the back of the chair. “Thanks for breakfast, Umma. I’ll wait at the car.” 

Yunho wishes he would have gotten up sooner so that he could walk to school; being in the same car as Changmin promises to be an uncomfortable experience, for everyone, and he’d rather have avoided the situation if at all possible. It’s something that Yunho should consider starting tomorrow.

“Seriously, he eats like a pig,” snorts Jihye. “I’m surprised he shifts to wolf and not pig.”

Yunho sighs and gets up from the table. “I’m done too.”

“You didn’t even eat,” points out Jihye, indicating his still-full plate. “Oppa. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m fine,” mutters Yunho. He grabs his bag and walks to the door. He hesitates though, he isn’t too sure what’s worse, standing at the door awkwardly, or being alone in a car with Changmin.

Jihye presses her lips into a thin line and she stares at her parents, who are still ignoring each other. She doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but it must have something to do with last night’s dinner. And Changmin’s return, because both her brothers have been acting odd when they should’ve been nauseatingly happy to be reunited. The last time Yunho went on a camping trip without Changmin, who had summer classes to move up the grades, they couldn’t be separated for weeks afterwards. That’s what normalcy should look like. Not… whatever this is. Her own appetite gone, Jihye helps her mother to clear the table as Yanghyun quietly drinks the rest of his coffee. 

He goes up to Mihyun to kiss her cheek and while her mother accepts the gesture, she’s still not smiling.

Jihye scrunches her face and heads for the door, where Yunho is waiting.

“Get in the car, oppa,” she says, pulling out her shoes and dropping them on the floor. She pauses to level him a narrow-eyed look. “Or are you not talking to Changmin-oppa?”

Yunho decides that the best way to deal with this is to ignore her and her nosy questions. He bends down to tie his shoelaces at the same time that Jihye hits him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. “_What?_”

“Don’t ignore me!” she hisses, her eyes narrowing even further. She’s going to get an answer out of him and if she has to continue hitting, she will. Yunho isn’t the only one who’s stubborn to a fault in the family. “You—”

Unfortunately, Yanghyun chooses that very moment to walk over and one look at the tight expression on his face, Jihye’s smart enough to know it’s time to keep her mouth shut. She huffs and slips on her shoes, stalking out towards the car. Only to get even more annoyed to see Changmin staring off into the distance, looking like a kicked puppy. Or if someone had stolen his favourite chew toy. Jihye rolls her eyes and opens the door to the front passenger seat, slamming it shut as Changmin finally realises she’s there. He scrambles to open it, but she’d already engaged the lock, which leaves him scowling at her through the glass of the window. 

“Jihye! That’s my seat!”

She shrugs and sticks out her tongue. “You snooze, you lose.”

His impending temper tantrum is cut short by the arrival of Yanghyun, who simply sighs at the squabble and rounds the car to get in. Changmin clenches his jaw when he sees Yunho and for a split second, he wonders if Yanghyun will allow him to walk to school. He’ll be arriving way past the first bell, but it’s better than having to endure this newfound awkwardness between him and Yunho throughout the entirety of the car ride. Jihye’s mouthing words at him, like a repetition of ‘_get in you idiot_’; Changmin decides that he’s going to kill her one of these days. He yanks the back door open and slides inside, being very careful to press himself to the door once he closes it. That empty middle space stretches wide and desolate, and he has to fight to not look towards Yunho. 

It’s a physical pain, having to keep his distance when all he wants to do is to pull Yunho close to him and bury his face into the crook of Yunho’s neck. To breathe in that familiar scent and to leave his own on the older boy’s skin, like lingering wisps of perfume. It’s an age-old urge, but it had never felt so urgent as it does since Yunho’s heat. He thinks it must be his alpha instincts reacting to the presence of an omega, although he doesn’t feel this way towards the very few others he’d met before and the attraction had never been this strong. That’s probably why Yanghyun warned him earlier — his father must’ve known that he’s already finding it hard to keep away from Yunho. That his wolf must’ve wrongly claimed Yunho as his own during the heat.

Changmin squeezes his eyes shut and rests his forehead against the window. 

He’s too busy being miserable that he doesn’t even notice them pulling up at the school, until Yanghyun’s parked and Jihye is already jumping out of the car. He hitches his bag further up his shoulder and is halfway out when he hears Yanghyun say,

“Yunho, stay. I need to talk to you.”

The car door slams shut behind Changmin, and Yunho rolls his lips between his teeth and watches his brother walk away like he’s never been happier to get away from him. Honestly, Yunho wishes he could get away too, but the reality is that he’s now sitting alone in the car with his father, and he wishes he could make himself disappear.

Yanghyun doesn’t even turn around. One of his hands is on the steering wheel, while the other is a loose fist on his thigh. “Did you take your medicine today?”

“Yes,” says Yunho curtly. The shame creeps up again, but not enough to overtake the resentment he’s starting to feel towards his father.

“Good.” He’s still staring straight ahead, but the fist has tightened. “Your school is updated about your recent change of… status, but they’re under legal obligation to keep your record sealed. If anyone—” Yanghyun’s voice hardens, grows sharper, “—I mean it, _ anyone _ outside the family finds out, you tell me. Understand?”

Yunho finds himself wringing his hands again. “Yes,” he replies. And as he does, he wonders, _ have I really become something that isn’t even worth looking at? _ He runs his hand over his mouth, and as he does, he notices his hand shaking. He can only hope that no one is going to find out that he’s an omega, because if even his own father thinks of him like this—

Yanghyun nods. As much as he’d like to offer words of comfort, he doesn’t think that’s what Yunho needs to hear. It’s only going to get more difficult from now onwards and his son should be used to all the precautions he’s supposed to take to keep himself out of harm’s way. Not looking at Yunho gives him the strength to keep going, to say, “Don’t forget your scent blocker, especially around other wolves. And make sure you get home early today.”

It’s an obvious dismissal. Yanghyun waits until Yunho slips out of the car and is already walking towards the gates before he drives off, both hands clenched around the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles are white. Mihyun had already given him the third degree last night, but he isn’t about to relent just because she doesn’t understand how terrifying the world is to omegas. Not like he does. It’s no mere secondhand accounts and horrifying pictures on a slideshow for him — he’d visited rescue houses, worked on abuse cases spanning decades. He’d seen omegas who have come to distrust alphas so much that they go into debilitating panic attacks just by being in the same room as one.

Yanghyun knows that Yunho is loved and protected by his pack, but even the mere possibility of his son suffering the fate is enough to make his hackles rise. 

There’s no way he’s going to let that happen to Yunho. _ No way_. 

.

**tbc**

.


	8. Chapter 8

.

Yunho walks through the hall carefully. It’s only been a week since he was last here, but it feels so foreign. He knows that his classmates shouldn’t know that he’s an omega, but he’s still wary. In fact, ‘wary’ is probably an understatement; he’s the most anxious ball of nerves. Maybe things are different now that he’s presented, and who knows? Rumours travel fast, and maybe they’ve already guessed at what’s happened. And then how is he going to respond? And aside from that, how is he going to catch up on so much schoolwork, and how is he going to tell his dance crew that he’s no longer —

“Yunho~!”

Hojun slings an arm around the younger boy’s neck, pulling Yunho down to his height so he can rub at the headful of dark hair in greeting. Yeonseok laughs behind him as they’re given a wide berth by other students milling around the hallway, most of them looking on in amusement. 

“Where were you?” Hojun asks, relinquishing his grip but isn’t actually letting go. Yunho looks slightly thinner, faint shadows smudging the underside of his eyes and he’s missing his customary bright grin. It’s not a good look on him, Hojun decides. “You skipped school for the entire week and didn’t even return my calls. What’s up with that?” 

“I was, sick,” whines Yunho. He winds his arms around Hojun’s middle and squeezes him in a hug. Even when he lets go, Hojun still has his arm around Yunho’s neck and won’t let Yunho straighten up. 

“So sick you couldn’t even return a text? You break my heart, man.” Hojun withdraws and wrinkles his nose, shaking his head in exaggerated disappointment. He’s going to run late for his first period if he doesn’t hurry, but he isn’t about to head off before making sure that Yunho is okay. It’s no secret that the kid’s his favourite junior, after all, and Hojun _ did _ miss him during his week of absence. “You’re feeling better, right? It’s nothing contagious?”

“You have no idea, I was really, really sick,” says Yunho defensively with a pout. Hojun’s genuineness eases Yunho’s anxiety a little, and he turns to both of his friends and smiles mischievously. “I mean, if I said I was contagious, what would you do?”

"Kick your ass for coming to school," Yeonseok says, matter-of-factly. 

Hojun cracks up. "Yeah, what he said."

"Well, it is contagious. And you die from this if you're not a wolf, so. Tough luck," says Yunho, crossing his arms.

"_Dude_." 

Yeonseok looks appalled and a bit worried, but Hojun laughs it off. He chucks Yunho's chin gently with his fist. "Yunho-yah, it's not nice to lie to your loving seniors who missed you so much they're taking you out for karaoke today."

Yunho's eyes widen. "Really? Can we? I've been so —"

And then Yunho remembers his father's stern reminders to be home early today. He feels his smile slide off his face. 

Hojun notices the way Yunho's face fall and he pauses, peering at the younger boy. "You can't hang out?"

Yunho shakes his head miserably. "I guess my father thinks I'm going to die if I do anything but study."

Whoa. Yunho probably said too much.

"Really? Man, that sucks!" 

Hojun frowns, stopping right in front of Yunho's class. Most of the students are already inside and he feels the usual prickle at the back of his neck that tells him Yunho's kid brother is somewhere in the vicinity, glaring at him. It's like he'd developed some kind of a sixth sense when it comes to Changmin, which is one of the most useless things to develop to be honest. It's not like the kid's going to attack him.

… Right?

"Your dad didn't use to mind, right? He's pretty cool the last time he saw us."

"Don't even ask," says Yunho sadly. "But maybe one day, when my dad has to work late or something. _ Please _ take me out for karaoke."

Yunho opens his arms and takes both of the older boys into his embrace. "I missed you both. _ So much_."

There it is, Yunho's trademark hug. It's a bit of a squish — even Yunho's long arms can't quite accommodate both of them at the same time — but Hojun is just glad he's back. He's about to wrap an arm around Yunho's neck when he notices Changmin. Who's standing a few feet away, staring at them with dark, inscrutable eyes. He's also wearing an expression Hojun can't quite place, one he hadn't seen on Changmin before and he doesn't think that Changmin's meant for anyone to take notice.

The kid looks… almost sad.

Hojun steels himself for a confrontation, thinking back of the last one before Yunho's weeklong disappearance, but Changmin simply brushes past them with a, "The teacher's coming soon." And goes straight to his seat. Grim-faced and straight-backed, but that’s about it.

_ Weird_.

He pats Yunho on the back and steps away, mouth curling into a grin to hide his confusion. "We'll see you at recess, alright?"

"A hundred percent," reassures Yunho with a nod. He smiles. "Go to class. I don't want you to get detention again."

Hojun bumps his shoulder against Yunho’s affectionately and takes off with Yeonseok in tow, just as the teacher rounds the corner towards their class. Changmin watches as Yunho ducks inside afterwards, still smiling and looking so much happier than he’d been since yesterday, all because he’d been reunited with his human friends. Jealousy coils tightly inside Changmin’s chest as he thinks about how quiet and withdrawn Yunho was when they’re left alone — a world’s difference compared to when he’s with Hojun and Yeonseok. And how they’re allowed to freely touch Yunho, when Changmin isn’t. It’s _ unfair_. He keeps his head down throughout the following lessons, answering only when he’s called upon and mostly tries to keep himself from looking at Yunho. 

Yunho keeps glancing at Changmin throughout the class, because they're not even supposed to be interacting during class, but this is just so… _ wrong_. They've _ never _ been like this, and why is _ Changmin _ the one looking like a pup who's just been kicked?

Maybe Changmin misses Beta Yunho, that's possible— he definitely loved Beta Yunho very much. Yunho chews on the end of his pen and lets out a sigh. What is it going to take for Changmin to see that Omega Yunho is the same as Beta Yunho?

He slowly turns back to his work but honestly, there's no point. He has no hope of understanding anything that's going on in this math lesson after having missed so much class.

They’re moving on to polynomial equations and Changmin flips through his exercise book, cross-checking the work with his notes from the previous week to make sure that everything is in order. Maths isn’t his favourite subject, but he does well enough in it to cruise along. The teacher makes her exit after a reminder that there’s going to be a quiz the next day and the entire class erupts into a chorus of groans and complaints, loud enough that she sticks her head back inside to give them a warning glare. Changmin slides the books inside his desk — it’s recess and he’s starving, especially since they skipped dinner last night and he went straight to bed, although he’s pretty sure he spent hours just tossing and turning. Breakfast doesn’t count — he doesn’t even remember what he’d eaten. 

He’s straightening up when his eyes catch Yunho’s, who’s making his way towards him with his books in his hands. 

Changmin carefully stays very, very still.

“I’m lost,” declares Yunho. He drops his books onto Changmin’s desk. A distressed frown appears on his face, and his cheeks swell up in a half-pout. “Help.”

It’s downright criminal to have that pout directed at him, especially when Yunho looks _ that _ stressed. Changmin’s first reflex is to grab the books, stacking them properly to the side of the table. The next is to look up at Yunho and raise an eyebrow. “You just missed a chapter. It’s not the end of the world.”

“So you’re… not gonna help…?” Yunho tries not to sound too anxious, but he’s sure to fail tomorrow’s quiz without Changmin’s help. 

“I didn’t say that,” Changmin says quickly, and then winces when he realises how eager he sounds. Old habits die hard, if at all, and he’d never been able to deny Yunho anything. He exhales loudly to cover that momentary lapse of judgement. “Sit down, hyung. We’ll go through your notes first and see what you’ve missed.”

A sigh of relief leaves Yunho’s lungs and he pulls up a chair — he’s not even sure whose chair he’s stealing — and plops down next to Changmin. Thank God Changmin doesn’t hate him enough to completely refuse. Yunho bends over his notes, as does Changmin, and their heads are so close that they can hear each other’s breaths. 

Changmin thinks there must be a deity up there that hates him so much they’re intent on making his life as miserable as possible. Seated this close together, it’s impossible to ignore Yunho’s scent and warmth and just — his _ presence_. And how much Changmin yearns to pull him closer, an arm around Yunho’s shoulder like he would’ve in the past. He has to concentrate on the printed numbers to distract himself from that particular urge and starts to explain the basic of polynomials, pointing out exercises that would probably come out during the quiz. He’s also shifted closer as he watches Yunho scribble calculations on the page, feeling just a little bit guilty for his inability to resist the older boy. 

He’s correcting one of the calculations when he hears Hojun’s jovial voice coming from the general direction of the doors.

“Yunho-yah! We’re here to kidnap you!”

Yunho gasps as he looks up — he’d completely forgotten. He raises his hand to wave at the older boy, then he turns to look at Changmin. And my gosh, Changmin looks absolutely murderous. Well, maybe not quite, he’s steeling himself well enough, but Yunho knows Changmin too well to know what that frozen expression is hiding. He smiles apologetically at Changmin and finds the courage to reach out for his hand. He takes it, and squeezes it in his grip for a brief moment before letting go quickly. He shouldn’t have touched. He hopes that Changmin doesn’t think that the _ omega _ is trying to seduce him. Yes, okay, Yunho _ does _ want to spend time with Changmin, but not just to _ seduce an alpha _, which is probably what Changmin’s thinking. “I’m sorry. Hold on.”

Changmin doesn't jerk his hand away this time, still too busy keeping a tight rein on his temper but as soon as Yunho let go, he feels the loss of Yunho's hand so sharply that it almost makes him reach out to stop Yunho from leaving. He can only watch as Yunho makes his way to Hojun, whose smile had widened, and clenches his fingers into fists, very nearly creasing the pages they're working on. 

Yeonseok, leaning against the wall outside, is the first to say, "C'mon, we're wasting daylight."

“Hyung, it’s a disaster,” says Yunho, looking at Hojun and Yeonseok in turn. “I’m going to fail my math quiz tomorrow, I’m so behind.” He sighs. “Maybe this is why my dad doesn’t want me going out.”

"Quiz?" Hojun quirks an eyebrow and looks over Yunho's shoulder towards Changmin, whose expression is less than pleasant. That kid really needs to chill. He turns back to Yunho, still grinning. "You have Miss Um, right? She recycles her quizzes every year. I still have mine if you wanna borrow them?"

“Ohh, yes!” exclaims Yunho. “That would be so helpful, thank you!”

Yeonseok snorts, good-natured. "So you're free right now, yeah? Can we go already?"

Yunho opens his mouth and draws in a breath. “Uh…” He takes a glance at Changmin, who’s glaring at his notebook so hard it's a wonder the pages haven't caught fire. “Hyung, I’m like… _ really _ behind.” He somehow manages to angle his head in a way so that he looks up at them both, even though he’s taller than them. “Lunch?”

Hojun sighs theatrically and pats Yunho's cheek, a couple of times. His voice is ladened with fond exasperation when he says, "You're lucky you're my favourite."

“I know I am,” replies Yunho with a grin. “Okay. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Yeonseok's grumbling slightly but Hojun nudges him off, looking back to say, "Lunch! And remind me about the quiz later!"

Yunho waves them off, and as he does, he’s more and more aware of Changmin behind him, and he wonders if he should have just gone with the older boys. Yunho sincerely hopes that Changmin doesn’t think he’s being annoying, taking away his recess like this. Yunho forces himself to turn back towards Changmin again. He rushes to the chair he was sitting in. “Sorry.”

“I thought you’re not coming back.” The words come out sharper than Changmin intended, especially considering Yunho had returned to him. It means he’d chosen Changmin, even if it’s only because he doesn’t want to fail Maths. Changmin scrapes his fingers through his hair and picks up his pencil again, shoving his annoyance as far down as it’d go. “What did they want?”

“I promised them I’d hang out with them at recess, so they came to get me.” He hesitates. “I’m really sorry.”

Changmin blinks. And then looks at Yunho, brows creasing. “Why are you apologising?”

“Um,” Yunho looks at his brother, his eyes wide. “Be… Because you’re… mad?”

He presses his lips into a not-smile. “I’m not mad.”

“Oh,” blinks Yunho. He smiles awkwardly. “Great!”

They continue to stare at each other for the next few seconds, before Changmin looks away, jaw clenched tightly. He _ hates _ this — the uncertainty, treating each other like strangers and worst of all, not being able to tell Yunho his actual feelings. He doesn’t even know how long they’re going to act like it’s just a matter of time before the thin ice under their feet starts cracking. Changmin underlines a formula on the page, the tip of his pencil sinking in too hard that it’s pulling at the paper. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to, hyung.”

“Yeah, well,” says Yunho, looking away from Changmin too. “No one likes math, but I have to pass this quiz.”

It’s as simple as that, then. Needs must. Changmin pulls himself up, knows where he’s supposed to stand once the line has been drawn clearly in the sand. He circles a few more questions and says, “These.” Another page, more questions. “And these. You should be fine if you can answer them.” 

He closes his own notebook and gets to his feet. “I’m going to buy something to eat. I’ll bring back some bread for you.”

Yunho watches blankly as Changmin gets up and walks out of the classroom, leaving Yunho behind. He stares at the door that Changmin leaves through for a bit longer, then sighs and looks down at their schoolwork. He has half a mind to push everything off the desk and just lie over the desk, but that won’t turn back time. It won’t make everything better; it won’t make Changmin stop avoiding him. Biting his lip, Yunho picks up his books and gets up too. He stalks to his desk, and drops his things down. Fine, if Changmin’s not going to stay, what’s the point in staying in the classroom.

He clenches his teeth and makes quick paces to the door too, and looks down the hall; Changmin’s walking towards the cafeteria, and in the opposite direction, Yeonseok and Hojun are just about to turn the corner. Yunho turns in the direction of the older boys and runs to catch up with them. 

“Hojun hyung! Yeonseok hyung! Wait up!”

Hojun stops in his track, turning around to see Yunho running them down. “I thought you’re catching up on Maths?” 

“With your guard dog?” Yeonseok adds, crossing his arms.

Before he knows it, Yunho’s shoved Yeonseok angrily, and not in jest — so hard that the older boy stumbles back. Yunho’s face flushes in anger at the derogatory term directed towards his brother, and he takes a step closer to Yeonseok and looks him dead in the eye. “Are you going to take that back, or what?”

Hojun is between them in a heartbeat, one hand on Yunho’s chest and the other on Yeonseok’s. His friend looks more bewildered than offended by the shove, which is a good thing. They wouldn’t want a teacher called on them if they start a fight right there. “Okay, whoa. Calm down, Yunho. He doesn’t mean—”

Yeonseok scowls, standing up to his full height. “Yeah, man. What the fuck?”

“_Are you serious right now?"_ explodes Yunho, and this time, he takes a step back so he can look at Hojun, too. The feeling of betrayal cuts through his chest. “And what, you’re taking his side too, because what? Because he’s human and I’m wolf? Because _ Changmin and I are wolves_?”

A panicked look dawns on Hojun’s face at Yunho’s outburst and he’s quick to hold up both hands in a placatory gesture. “Yeonseok didn’t mean anything by it. He doesn’t know, okay?”

Yeonseok looks at Hojun, and then at Yunho. There’s still a trace of anger, but now it’s tempered by confusion. “Know what? What are you talking about?”

Yunho lets out a snort. “You’re just gonna play dumb? Is this how we’re playing this game?” he seethes.

“You shouldn’t have called his brother a ‘guard dog’,” Hojun hastens to explain to Yeonseok, the last couple words reduced to a harsh whisper. It’s another one of those derogatory terms used against the lupine community, a relic from a time when wolves were chained outside wealthy landlords’ manors and castles and treated like animals. It’s a good thing they’re in school and Yunho is the only one who heard what Yeonseok had said — some wolves would’ve taken that as an affront to the pack itself. Hojun shoves an elbow into Yeonseok’s side. “Just apologise, man.”

The other boy has the decency to look dismayed at his faux pas. He rubs the back of his neck, head lowered. “Sorry, Yunho. I wouldn’t have said that if I knew.”

“Well, maybe you should spend the recess educating yourself,” spits Yunho. He turns to Hojun. “And I don’t care if he meant it or not. It’s wrong.”

He stalks back to his classroom, so angry at both of the older boys — how _ dare _ they say that about Changmin?

Changmin comes back from the cafeteria to see Yunho stalking down the hallway and somehow, the universe times it right so they arrive at the door at the exact same second. He raises his eyebrows at the older boy, taking in the thunderous expression and how Yunho looks like he’s seconds away from punching someone in the throat. 

“Are you okay?” he asks. He raises the bread and strawberry milk he’d bought for the older boy, in an attempt to pull a smile out of him. “Look what I got for you.”

Yunho stares. Changmin didn’t leave to avoid him? Was he really just going to the cafeteria to grab food while Yunho read through his notes? 

Yunho finds his face scrunch up — maybe he’s annoyed at the misunderstanding, or relieved by Changmin’s return. Whatever the emotions are, they get directed towards Changmin. “Why did you leave? You were supposed to stay and teach me.”

“I told you I was going to buy some food,” Changmin points out, doesn’t understand what had gotten Yunho so riled up. He catches a glimpse of Hojun and Yeonseok near the bend of the corner, but they’re already walking away. “Did you do the questions? I can’t teach you anything if I don’t know what you don’t understand, hyung.”

“I don’t understand anything, I told you,” hisses Yunho angrily. He grabs Changmin’s wrist and starts dragging him towards his desk again. “Don’t just walk away from me like that.”

Half of the questions are from previous chapters, but it’s hard to argue when Yunho doesn’t seem inclined to listen. Something must’ve happened when he was gone; it’s rare for the older boy to be so aggravated, especially at school. Changmin stiffens as he’s being dragged through the class, Yunho’s fingers searing a brand into his skin. He should shake him off, but considering the waves of anger practically rolling off of Yunho, he doesn’t. Maybe it’s okay if their father doesn’t know about minor transgressions — it’s not like they would tell on each other. 

Once they’re at his table, he sits down as Yunho goes to pick up his own books. Yunho’s movements are jerky, his brows still creased and Changmin really needs to know _ why._ And if he can risk asking without making the older boy even angrier. He waits for Yunho to join him again before he leans forward, pressing the cool strawberry milk to Yunho’s cheek. 

“You’re not gonna be able to learn anything if you’re pissed off, you know.”

“Stop. I’m not mad,” says Yunho moodily, but he takes the strawberry milk from Changmin’s hand and he can’t help but feel his heart melting from the gesture. The very feeling that no matter what, beta or omega — they’re family, pack brothers, and will always take care of each other. Maybe it’ll take time, but it’ll happen one day.

He opens the strawberry milk carton and hands it to Changmin. “Here.”

“It’s for you.” Changmin flips open his notes and Yunho’s, nudging the book towards the other boy. They won’t have much time to revise right now, but he can always help Yunho out during lunch as well. Then he’ll have a legitimate reason to be around Yunho. If Changmin recognises how ridiculous it is that he now needs reasons to hang out with his adopted brother, he ignores that little voice at the back of his head. “You didn’t eat anything at breakfast.”

It’s only with the verbal reminder that Yunho realizes how hungry he is. In fact, he can almost hear his stomach growling. “I didn’t say you could have the whole thing. You can have one sip.”

Changmin looks at proffered drink and thinks about Yunho putting his mouth at the same place as Changmin would’ve, and it’s enough to make him blanch. It’s such a small thing, one he wouldn’t even consider weeks before, but they’re way past that. “No, thanks.” He taps at one of the questions. “You should work on this first.”

Yunho narrows his eyes, but he eyes the milk — he really is _very _ hungry — and he drinks the whole thing down in one go. He only looks at the question that Changmin is pointing to after that.

Changmin has always been an excellent teacher, there’s no changing that. He very patiently waits for Yunho to complete the questions correctly and says an encouraging word, or he waits for Yunho to get stuck, so that he can nudge him in the right direction. It doesn’t feel as intimate as it usually is when Changmin helps with Yunho’s schoolwork — Changmin is still being more distant than he’s ever been, and Yunho is afraid to get too close, too. But this is the most _ right _ that it’s felt in the last two days, and Yunho finds himself basking in the semi-normalcy of the interaction, never mind the math. They don’t have much time; they only get through a couple questions before the bell rings to signal the end of recess. But even in that short period of time, and even if the math was only of secondary importance in the situation in Yunho’s mind, he still has a better grasp of what’s going on.

All of their classmates go back to their seats, and Yunho gets up too. “Thanks,” he says. “Maybe… if you don’t mind… could we go through the rest together later, too?”

Changmin hesitates for a second, but he eventually nods. It's odd to hear Yunho sound so uncertain and that makes him smile, trying to ease the strain between them. "Yeah, of course. I'm free during lunch, but I have training after. You're… gonna stay?"

Yunho’s eyes light up. “Yeah,” he says, maybe a little bit too enthusiastically. “I mean —” he hesitates. “I said I’d meet Hojun hyung and Yeonseok hyung at lunch, but they’re not going to be able to help me with math. Also they’re being annoying.”

“Annoying?” That’s unexpected. After their little reunion this morning, Changmin would’ve thought that the three would become inseparable. The wolf inside him howls with glee, possessiveness scratching the inside of his skin, and it’s a struggle to not show it on his face. “What happened?”

But before Yunho can answer, their History teacher strides into the class with her usual stern “Get back to your seats!” that sends Yunho scrambling to gather his books and follow the directive. Changmin huffs, annoyed that their conversation is cut short, but at least he’ll get to spend lunch with the older boy. Anticipation only makes the hours crawl even slower and by the time they get there, Changmin is restless and jittery. An exchange of looks, the age-old brand of understanding and they leave the classroom together for the cafeteria. Changmin stays close to Yunho, even though he keeps a careful distance to make sure they aren’t touching and this should be enough for now. Asking for more is just greedy. They spend lunch going through the questions and most of the exercises — Yunho picks things up quickly once he concentrates, and Changmin spends most of that time staring at the older boy’s bent head. The ache inside his chest lingers and festers, but it’s better than the gaping emptiness of not having Yunho around at all. 

They share their lunch. Changmin buys Yunho more strawberry milk and sees his face light up.

The ache burrows deeper. 

As he watches Yunho correct one of the steps in the long division, Changmin checks his watch and swears. “We should go back to class.” He pauses. “Do you… You can do the rest of the exercise while I train? If you want to go home together?”

Yunho’s heart leaps at the invitation, and he’s drawn a breath to say _ yes, of course _ — but then he remembers, and he very, very reluctantly shakes his head sadly. “I can’t. Appa… said I have to be home early.”

Changmin’s mouth twists into a moue and he almost asks why their father had asked Yunho to stay inside the car this morning. He closes his books slowly, reluctant to part ways, but knowing that they’ve run out of time. “I’ll see you at home then.”

Yunho tries to hide his disappointment and nods. It feels like he's in a prison, and no one wants to let him out anytime soon. But, at least, Changmin is coming home too. Eventually. He catches a glimpse of Hojun and Yeonseok when he’s heading for the gates later that afternoon, but he doesn’t go up to the older boys, the residual anger from the slur still settling thick in the pit of his stomach. It’s like he’s losing parts of his life in increments, falling apart right under his hands even when he tries so hard to grasp them tightly. The car isn’t in the driveway, which means his father hasn’t come back from office and that’s enough to make relief flood Yunho’s veins. Mihyun is in the kitchen preparing dinner and when she asks him about his day, he’s tempted to tell the truth. That he feels like suffocating, like his self-worth is now tied to his omega status and that’s it’s disintegrating too quickly for him to fix. That he wishes his father would stop treating him like he’s damaged goods. Only to bite the words back in time, because she wouldn’t understand.

And it’s not her burden to bear. 

Yunho drags himself to his room and collapses onto the bed, clamping his mouth shut against the urge to scream.

.

Two weeks pass and it’s the same every day. Nothing changes.

Yunho goes up to his room as soon as he gets home, and stays there until he’s called down for dinner. He sometimes even skips dinner, because he doesn’t want to be part of the awkward process. The third night he’d tried to skip dinner though, his father barked at him to come down, and Yunho has to sit through the whole thing, and it feels at least twice as bad.

Everything is the same between Yunho and Changmin too, and it’s worse in the mornings, when they have to sit in the car together. Yunho hasn’t been allowed to walk to school, but Changmin has; so on some days, Changmin would walk to school after breakfast, and Yunho would just sit in the car wordlessly. He can’t get out of the car fast enough once they reach their school.

Yanghyun notices the change in Yunho’s attitude, not as quickly as he would’ve liked, but he’d been home late enough the first couple of days to miss the abrupt shift. Dinner has become some kind of a minefield — it used to be the time for everyone to share about their day, voices overlapping as they talked all over each other and laughter was omnipresent, especially when Yunho and Changmin started to bicker about something that happened at school. Now, his sons refuse to look at each other, never mind their usual banter, Jihye’s chatter is a trailing monologue and Mihyun’s expression shifts between carefully-curated cheerfulness, as she tries to pull answers from their children, and brewing storm, the last exclusively aimed towards him at the end of dinner, when the kids have escaped to their rooms. She hasn’t said anything much about his decision to ground Yunho, but from the look of things, it wouldn’t be long before that particular argument comes to head.

Nothing in his decades of life had prepared Yanghyun for having an omega in the family. Theoretically, he knows it shouldn’t have to be any different, but the reality is something else altogether. His work affords him a firsthand experience into everything that _ can _ go wrong for an omega, especially a male one, and he isn’t about to risk Yunho’s safety just because his son is upset over his methods. There’s no room for delicate sensibilities in their world, not now. He’s done as much as he can to make sure that nobody outside of the family and their doctor knows about Yunho’s status for now, although it wouldn’t last forever. Especially once Yunho is old enough to find himself a mate. The pack can’t be kept in the dark for long as well and that’s a conversation with the elders he would have to make happen sooner, rather than later. The protection that comes with being a registered omega of an established pack, the most influential in Gwangju, will go a long way in easing some of his worries. 

Yanghyun sighs and folds the newspaper, placing it beside his plate of half-eaten toast. His eyes catch the way Yunho is fiddling with his food and Yanghyun frowns. It’s becoming a daily occurrence, to have Yunho sitting across the table during meals that the boy barely touches. “Finish your food, Yunho.”

Yunho starts at his father's command. He looks down at his food. Although his mother has noticed and has started giving Yunho smaller portions, it will be a struggle to eat it all. "I'm not hungry in the mornings," mutters Yunho.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Yanghyun grouses. He doesn’t like how much weight Yunho had lost, now that he’s looking more closely. “Finish your food or we’re all going to be late.” 

A surge of annoyance ripple through Yunho, and his eyes flash as he looks up at his father. "I have no problem with being late."

The defiant retort blindsides Yanghyun and he looks at Yunho, brows creasing. “What did you say?”

Yunho knows that his father heard that, and he doesn't repeat himself. He's also not feeling as brave as he was a second ago, but he puts his utensils down, making it clear that he's not going to be eating any more. Changmin watches them, wide-eyed, and looks like he’d rather be anywhere else but there right at that moment. Yanghyun’s expression hardens, unused to this version of Yunho that would outright disobey him, and it’s fortunate that Mihyun comes between them before the situation can escalate.

“It’s fine,” she says, loudly. There’s a cutting edge to her voice that brooks no argument. “I’ve already packed some snacks for them.”

Jihye takes that moment to chime in with a, “Yunho-oppa eats a lot at school anyway.” She turns to him, good-natured mischief in the curl of her lips. “You’re gonna need all that energy for the dance competition, right? Ilsuk said it’s this weekend?”

Yunho's face blanches. He looks at Jihye and shoots her a look of _ shut up right now _ and Jihye looks properly horrified at herself, but the damage is already done. He hadn't had the heart to quit his dance crew as his father had ordered him to. Instead, he had the other members send him videos of their new choreographies so that he had time to learn it from home, and then they'd practice together whenever they had time. Yunho had committed to the competition this weekend because he knew that his father would be working, but —

Yanghyun’s frown darkens. “_Dance competition?_”

"I — I'm not —" stutters Yunho, but he doesn't know how else to defend himself in this situation.

“Didn’t I tell you to quit?” Yanghyun’s voice has risen, his eyes flashing dark gold as the alpha takes over. “Or were you not listening, _ Jung Yunho_?”

"Why do I have to quit?" pleads Yunho desperately. "I've been home early like you said every day, we only practice over recess!"

Yanghyun gets to his feet slowly, but the anger rolling off of him is tangible. Jihye looks close to tears and Mihyun is stunned into silence, her beta instincts warring with her maternal ones. Changmin, the only other alpha in the room, has gone deathly still. Yanghyun notices none of this, as his attention is focused entirely on Yunho when he growls, “_Because I said so_. You will tell them that you’re quitting. Today.” 

He jerks away from the table, snatching his briefcase from the counter and leaving for the car before anyone else can get another word in. 

Yunho's heart drops, and he stands too, and rushes after his father. "A...Appa. _ Please_. The competition is in three days, the rest of the crew won't have time to fix the —"

The plea makes Yanghyun stop mid-stride and it tugs at him, although it does the exact opposite than what Yunho would’ve wanted. He can’t believe his son has disobeyed his express wishes, ones that he’d made to protect Yunho from the dangers lurking out there, just because of something as inconsequential as the dance crew. He whirls around, temper flaring, and pins Yunho down with an alpha-charged glare. “You do as I say as long as you live under my roof.” He snarls, lips pulled to reveal rows of sharpening teeth. “Get your brother and sister. We’re going _ now_.”

The threatening aura of his father, his _ alpha_, overwhelms him in a way that it never has before. His father had never been this angry at him before, and despite how much more Yunho wants to beg for his father to change his mind, it is downright terrifying. 

That doesn't mean that following his father's directions, or even just thinking about quitting the dance crew three days before a competition, is any less torturous. The resentment builds, and although he manages to get in the car while biting his tongue, the only thing on his mind is how he's going to be letting down his dance crew members at such a critical time. They'd been practicing for months for this competition, including Yunho — and to know that all of their hard work is going down the drain because of him is a positively nauseating feeling. 

The ride to the school that day is one of the worst experiences Changmin had ever gone through. Yanghyun’s anger is like a blanket that smothers over them, thick and suffocating, and he doesn’t say another word when he drops them off, not even to Jihye. His sister’s eyes are red-rimmed, glistening with unshed tears and he gives her a quick hug before she rushes to Yunho, whispering to him about how sorry she is for telling their father about the dance competition, how she didn’t know and she wouldn’t have said anything if she did. Yunho simply shakes his head, fingers clenched tightly around the straps of his bag, and Changmin would’ve given anything to make things better for the older boy. Instead, he turns and heads for the classroom, wondering if he’d be able to talk to Yanghyun about changing his mind. The dance crew means the world to Yunho and the possibility of taking away that grief Changmin had seen on Yunho’s face is worth the try. 

It becomes clearer and clearer that Yunho is losing the last pieces of everything he loves in his life. The grief from that turns into anger as he remembers that _ none of this _ would have happened if he weren't an omega. His father wouldn't have started to punish him, Changmin wouldn't be avoiding him, he would still be allowed to dance... And the thought that this isn't something that Yunho can change back is plainly devastating. He can't change his status back to a beta, and he won't ever be able to bring back the things he loves into his life.

He is certainly not listening to the lesson, and barely even recognizes what class he's in as he lets himself wallow in the swirl of anger, frustration, and misery.

Changmin tries to keep an eye on Yunho whenever he can, which is a difficult undertaking since his seat is closer to the front of the class than the older boy’s. Yunho’s expression hasn’t cleared since earlier and he’s a lot quieter, inviting curious looks from the rest of their classmates. Changmin surreptitiously tells them to leave Yunho alone, that he’s feeling unwell, but it’s poor consolation, considering he’s not even able to offer the kind of comfort Yunho deserves. He loses track of Yunho when the bell rings for recess and he’s asked by one of their teachers to go to the staff room, to discuss a swim meet happening at the end of that month. Once he returns to the classroom, Yunho is no longer around. And he’s not even in the cafeteria. 

Looking out of the window, Changmin spots a familiar figure sitting on a bench at the corner of the schoolyard. 

His relief is short-lived when he sees Han Jiwook, the new transfer student from Busan and _ an alpha from another class_, walking towards Yunho.

Changmin curses under his breath, pivots away from the window and starts running towards the stairs. 

Yunho really just wanted to be alone during recess, which is quite a new feeling. He's putting off telling his dance team about quitting, but as soon as he sees one of them, he will have no choice but to tell them — so he's avoiding it for as long as he can.

He kicks at the pebble in front of him moodily, and lets out a sigh. The pebble stops a little distance away, at a pair of feet that Yunho hadn't expected to be there. He looks up, expecting to find a friend, or maybe Changmin or Jihye, but he's surprised to find the new transfer student that Yunho hasn't ever spoken to.

“Hey,” Jiwook says, mouth slanting into a crooked grin as he looks down at Yunho. He’d seen Yunho around before, but they haven’t been properly introduced. He only knows the name because he'd asked a girl from his class. He likes the look of those dark eyes staring at him, the polite confusion on Yunho’s face. He likes those slightly parted lips even better. “You’re Yunho, right?”

Yunho nods, just a bit wary. "Hi," he offers. He looks away afterwards to give the hint that he's not interested in continuing this conversation.

Undeterred, Jiwook takes a step closer. Being an alpha makes him cocky, assured of his own appeal, especially to someone like Yunho. It’s not like he hasn’t had his fair share of stubborn betas before, although none of them is as pretty as the one before him. He reaches out to brush fingertips over Yunho’s hair, soft strands sliding over his nails and his grin widens. “Aren’t you going to ask for my name?”

Yunho jerks his head away to get away from the touch. More than being afraid, he feels _ violated _ at the other boy's touch combined with the condescending, entitled tone of his voice. "I know your name already," says Yunho, his voice hardening. "Also I'm really, really not in the mood."

Jiwook scowls, eyes narrowing at the rebuke. He’s too used to getting his way that the possibility of being rejected outright had never occurred to him. And now that he’s getting front-row seat to the experience, he finds that he doesn’t like it. At all. “I’m just trying to get to know you better. You don’t have to be a little bitch about it.”

"Okay, and I told you I wasn't in the mood," retorts Yunho, glaring at Jiwook. He gets up from the bench. "We're done."

_ The fucking nerve_. Jiwook’s hand lashes out to grab Yunho’s arm, fingers digging hard enough to bruise. He yanks Yunho around and snarls, “We’re _ not _ fucking done—”

"Let go," says Yunho through gritted teeth. The hand on his arm sends shivers down his spine, and he tries to take a step pack.

Jiwook sneers. His grip tightens, his other hand grabbing Yunho’s waist as he presses so close that he can feel the rise and fall of Yunho’s chest. Until there’s barely any space between them. He tilts his head, sneering, “_Or what_?”

Changmin jumps off the last three steps that would bring him to the ground floor, landing with a heavy thud and surprising a group of girls near the staircase. He ducks his head in apology but doesn't linger, too preoccupied with getting to where Yunho is before Jiwook can do anything. Changmin doesn't like the other alpha, never mind that he knows next to nothing about him. It might as well be paranoia screeching inside his head, but he trusts his gut instincts and they're telling him to move faster: _ Yunho is in danger_. He'd just reached the corner that opens to the schoolyard when he hears a bloodcurdling scream, one that slams right into his chest with the force of a swinging anvil.

"Hyung—!"

Only that Jiwook is the one with his knees on the ground, screaming in pain, and Yunho stands over him. Looking like fury incarnate. He's twisting one of Jiwook's hands to an awkward angle, raising it high so that the pressure is entirely on Jiwook's shoulder. Changmin recognises the move as something Yunho had once demonstrated after a hapkido lesson, although Yunho hadn't gone as hard as he's doing with Jiwook's arm right now. Another wrench and Jiwook starts begging loudly, desperately to be let go, no longer the same cocksure alpha he'd been just minutes ago. Other students are starting to gather and it wouldn’t be long before someone calls a teacher.

Changmin approaches them slowly, until he's able to catch Yunho's eyes.

"You're going to break his arm if you keep doing that," he says, with a calmness he doesn't feel.

Changmin is right; just a tiny bit more pressure on the boy’s shoulder and it’s going to snap effortlessly. “Maybe I deserve an apology before I let go,” growls Yunho in a low voice. “We don’t put our hands on anyone who are minding their own business, right?”

Jiwook nods so rigorously that it looks as if he’s in danger of dislocating his neck. “I’m sorry, okay?! I’m fucking sorry— Oh fuck fuck _ fuck_, get your hands off me already—!” He raises his head to stare at Changmin, his entire face pulled into an expression of agony. “Tell him to stop!”

A broken arm is a small price to pay, if Changmin had heard Yunho right. Just the thought of the alpha putting his hand on Yunho makes Changmin’s hackles rise and he’d liked nothing more than break the other arm, maybe other limbs as well. But Yunho is already dealing out his own brand of punishment and he is content to enjoy the show, pride swelling inside his chest to replace his earlier apprehension. Changmin crosses his arms, looking down at Jiwook with raised eyebrows.

“You’re going to tell the teacher this is all your fault, right? That you provoked Yunho-hyung?”

Jiwook’s entire face scrunches, sweat rolling down in fat drops over his skin. “The fuck—! This beta bitch’s the one who started it!”

Yunho changes the angle by half a degree, and Jiwook lets out another scream. “Tell me what I started,” says Yunho in a calm, quiet voice that doesn’t match Jiwook’s urgent one. “You started touching my hair, and I told you that I wasn’t in the mood, right? Then you thought it would be okay to start grabbing me?”

Jiwook’s gulping in air like he’s drowning, a litany of ‘_fuck_’s and incoherent pained garbles slipping through his lips, but none of those words refute Yunho’s accusation. Which means it must be true. Struggling to keep a tighter rein on his more feral urges, Changmin has half a mind to tell Yunho to just break the arm. It’ll be worth it. Hell, Changmin would gladly take the blame if it means putting this asshole in his rightful place. It doesn’t happen, however, because a teacher is already heading towards them and he exchanges a look with Yunho. Another vicious wrench and Jiwook is freed, reduced to a groaning mess at Yunho’s feet. 

“Jung Yunho!” Just their luck — it’s their History teacher looking in outraged disbelief at them, hands on her hips as her eyes snap from Yunho to Jiwook. “What is the meaning of this?”

Yunho looks at her, then at Jiwook. “Why don’t you explain,” says Yunho, but it doesn’t seem like their teacher is going to accept that.

“Spare me your excuses,” she harrumphs, eyes glinting mercilessly behind her glasses. “The principal’s office. Now!”

Of course Yunho doesn’t deserve this, and he knows that — but arguing with the teacher isn’t going to be fruitful, not when, for whatever reason, she’s been out to get him for so long. And to be honest, he doesn’t care enough to go through with the trouble of trying to defend himself. He shoots Jiwook another dirty look before turning right around and striding towards the main school building with the teacher following him. Changmin moves to join them, enraged that Yunho is being blamed for the altercation when it’s obvious Jiwook is at fault. There’s no way Yunho would’ve started anything. He has to stop, however, when the teacher whirls around and tells him to go back to his class or risk disciplinary charges. Not that he gives a shit when Yunho’s reputation is at stake, but the older boy glances over his shoulder and shakes his head curtly. 

Changmin clenches his jaw and stays there, unmoving until Yunho and the teacher disappear round a bend. 

And only then does he turn to Jiwook, eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

“We need to talk about _boundaries_.”

.

**tbc**

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	9. Chapter 9

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When Yanghyun receives the call, he's in the middle of going through the depositions from one of his current cases and it takes him a while to realise that his phone is vibrating from where it's buried under thick stacks of papers. His heart plummets once he sees the caller ID and he’s quick to thumb at the ‘_accept call_’ button. The conversation that follows is brief and succinct — his presence is required at the school as soon as possible, due to a serious transgression committed by his son, and the principal would like to discuss the matter with him before any punishment is meted out. He’s almost out of the door by the end of that spiel, barely remembering to grab his jacket, and informs his secretary that he would be unavailable for the rest of the day. Trepidation skitters down the length of his spine as he recalls a similar phone call years ago, one that led him into finding out that one of his sons had been put into a cage, like a common dog. 

Yanghyun grips the steering wheel hard enough that the leather squeaks, shifts underneath his hands.

It’s a small mercy that there isn’t a lot of traffic and he gets there in thirty minutes, striding into the building as he tries to imagine what had happened prior to the call. They didn’t mention which son was involved and Yanghyun’s face contorts when he sees Changmin outside the office. The boy doesn’t look any worse for wear, except for the furrowed brows and the tight, downturned line of his mouth.

“Appa!” He rushes towards Yanghyun and he looks almost relieved, but still very much furious. There’s colour sitting high on his cheeks and the words start tumbling right out, slamming against each other into one incoherent tangle. “Did they call you? It’s all a mistake— Hyung didn’t— It was the guy’s fault—”

Yanghyun grits his teeth, the knot inside his stomach tightening. _ Yunho’s the one in trouble then. _“Where’s your brother?”

Changmin scowls. “Inside. With the principal. But Appa, it’s not—”

“Stay here,” he says, cutting Changmin off before the boy can start his tirade all over again. Yanghyun pats his shoulder before letting go. “Or better yet, go back to your class. I’ll handle this.”

Changmin’s eyes widen at the dismissal and he shakes his head quickly. From the way he stands his ground, it looks as if someone would’ve had to physically remove him with a crowbar if they want him gone. “I want to be here for hyung.”

Yanghyun sighs. He’d rather not argue with Changmin when Yunho is waiting for him, especially since he still doesn’t know the reason behind the summon. He takes a deep breath right before knocking on the door, twisting the knob once he hears a crisp ‘_Come in!_’ from the inside. The first thing he sees is Yunho, the stiff line of his shoulders betraying how tense he is, and the way he flinches once the door closes. The principal stands and goes round the table to shake Yanghyun’s hand, exclaiming how unfortunate the circumstance is, before asking him to take a seat next to his son. Yunho still hasn’t looked at him, head downcast as if he’s carrying a too-heavy weight around his neck, and Yanghyun wonders if he’ll continue to do so during the entirety of this meeting.

The principal clears his throat gently and places his folded hands on the table, looking first at Yunho, and then at Yanghyun. “I apologise for having to call you down here, Mr. Jung, but I believe that this is the best course of action right now, before this situation escalates.”

“Escalates?” Yanghyun frowns. “What exactly is the ‘situation’ we’re talking about, Mr. Cheon? I wasn’t made aware of the details before coming here.” 

“You see, Yunho here—” He pauses, turning towards the boy once again. “—had injured and _ then _threatened a fellow student.”

Yanghyun stares at the principal, convinced that he’d heard the other man wrong. His eyes flicker to his son, who’s still stubbornly looking down at the clenched fists on his lap. “Yunho? Is this true?”

Yunho still can’t look at his father. He’s been terrified, to be honest, and begged his principal not to call his father, and told him he’s sorry, and that it’s all his fault — because his father is already furious at him and he doesn’t know what this will do for their relationship which seems beyond repair already.

“Yunho,” prompts the principal, and Yunho looks up at him. “Please explain.”

Yunho clenches his teeth, then talks at his lap. “I… he was…” How does he say this, and how does he explain how violating it felt in words? The explanation seems too simple, and in the moment, Yunho thinks, _ maybe it was all my fault after all_. When he starts to really think and believe this, the words come rather naturally, now that he’s not trying to make anyone understand, or trying to make anyone stand on his side. “I was just sitting alone on the bench, and then Jiwook came and started talking to me. He was touching my hair, and I told him I didn’t want him to do that, and I got up. Then he grabbed my arm, I told him to let go, and then he grabbed my waist. So I put him in a shoulder lock.” All facts, nothing else. Yunho looks up at his principal. “That’s it.”

“Thank you, Yunho.” The principal steeples his fingers together, his expression turning grave as he addresses Yanghyun. “I’ve talked to the other boy, of course. He insisted that they were having a conversation when Yunho attacked him.”

“Then he’s lying,” Yanghyun says firmly, without missing a beat. “My son has never been involved in any fights before, unless he’s protecting himself or his family. If Yunho said he’d been provoked into having to defend himself against an unwanted advance, I believe that was what happened.”

Yunho turns his head and stares at his father — it’s hard to believe that his father is defending him, after everything that’s happened in the past few weeks. It’s nothing short of shocking, but when Yanghyun turns his own head to look at Yunho, he diverts his gaze — who knows what he might be thinking right now? Maybe it’s just that Yanghyun wants to deal with him at home, instead of having the school involved. The thought deflates him once again, and he goes back to staring at his lap, holding his elbows in his hands.

There's a resounding ache inside Yanghyun's chest when Yunho looks away and he tries to remember the last time they made proper eye contact, or have a conversation that doesn't devolve into an argument soon after. Yanghyun realises he can't, not since they found out Yunho is an omega, and that particular realisation sinks at him with the swiftness of a guillotine blade. Something must've shown on his face, because the principal is now peering at him with concern. He swallows and allows his expression to harden once again, unwilling to waver right at that moment.

"This other boy, is he a wolf as well?" he asks, directing the question at Yunho. 

Yunho nods, still not looking at his father. “The transfer. He’s an alpha.”

Yanghyun's eyes narrow into pinpricks of storm, rage simmering under his skin. He hasn't heard of a new wolf family in town, but he'd been preoccupied with work these past few weeks. To think that the harassment comes from one of their own makes this even worse. A different kind of anger takes over when a thought occurs at him. "Did this alpha say anything before he started harassing you?"

The word '_alpha_' is spat out through clenched teeth.

“What… do you mean?” asks Yunho, a frown forming on his face as he tries to remember everything that was said between them. “It happened… pretty quickly. There wasn’t much time for conversation.”

Yanghyun glances at the principal, but decides that anything said inside the office will stay in the office. He'd make sure of it. "Did he harass you _because_ you're an omega?"

Yunho jumps, and almost lets out a yelp. He stares round-eyed at his father, then at the principal, who also looks like he can’t believe his ears, and Yunho stutters his next words. “A-Appa — Mr. Cheon d-doesn’t — know —”

"It's fine. Mr. Cheon understands this is a confidential matter and that the school is liable for a lawsuit if your status gets out." Yanghyun nods at the principal. "Isn't that right?"

The principal returns the gesture. "Of course. We value our students' privacy."

"But —" Yunho stops himself from arguing with his father, but to him, it's not just the fact that his principal will _ know _ — but that this will be another person who will start looking at Yunho differently, start treating him differently. But at this point, it's too late, and whatever will happen will happen; Yunho finds himself resigned to his fate. Instead, he goes to answer Yanghyun's earlier question. "...No. He didn't know. He thought I was a beta."

Yanghyun doesn't even know he's holding his breath until he heard what Yunho had said. The air rushes out of his lungs then, relief flooding in. "I see." His attention goes back to the principal. "If the other boy involved in the fight is a wolf, I believe that it's more prudent if we resolve this within the pack. I will talk to his parents and make sure that this is dealt with."

The principal shakes his head, a wry smile on his face. "Unfortunately, the fight happened on school grounds and I have to make sure that each student respects and follows the rules. Both students will serve a week suspension, starting from tomorrow." He turns to Yunho. "Young man, use the time to reflect on your actions. You should not be so quick to resort to violence next time."

Yunho feels the wind being knocked out of him, and he clenches his teeth to stop himself from crying as the injustice of the situation pulls at him. _ Fine, then, I'll just let everyone touch me however they want next time, _ is at the tip of his tongue, but the fight in him is gone. He just nods as tears gather in his eyes. _ At least I'm getting used this_, he thinks ruefully, and it's enough of a consolation that he’s able to keep the tears from falling. Each time it happens doesn't seem to hurt as much as the last, and at least he's not hurting himself even more by trying to fight, by throwing himself against the unmoving wall over and over. His shirt crumples in his fist, and he does everything he can not to look at his father, who must be so, so disappointed in him.

Yanghyun looks like he's about to argue, but thinks better of it. "If that is all, I'd like to discuss with you before I leave. Wait for me outside, Yunho."

Yunho keeps his gaze trained to the floor as he gets up and walks around his father's chair. He can barely even see anything with the tears clouding his vision, but he manages to find the door and open it with his shaking hand.

As soon as he closes the door behind him, the tears start to fall, and he presses the cuff of his sleeves into his eyes, hard. And when he takes them away, he can barely believe his eyes — 

"Ch-Changmin, what… are you doing here?" 

Waiting is an agony, not knowing what's happening behind the closed door, but it's so much worse seeing Yunho comes out with tears in his eyes. Changmin's already thinking about going inside, demanding to be heard, but the urge to stay with the older boy is stronger.

"What happened? Why— Why are you crying?"

Yunho wishes that he could just fall into Changmin's arms and cry into his shoulder, but he just shakes his head and smiles instead. It's getting really painful to smile, and Yunho thinks he might give it up soon. "I'm… fine. I've been suspended."

"What?!" That's ridiculous! Yunho did nothing wrong and it's not fair that he's being punished for defending himself. Changmin starts towards the door, determined to make things right. "I'll tell them what happened. They can't suspend you!"

"I did break the rules," says Yunho, shaking his head and trying to appear more _ okay _ than he feels. "Nothing's going to change that."

"It's the asshole's fault! He put his hands on you—" A growl punctuates that sentence and Changmin wishes he'd punched Jiwook's face in. Maybe then they'd _ both _ be suspended. He takes in the glistening brightness of Yunho's eyes, the slump of his shoulders and the manufactured calm in his voice, and before Changmin knows it, he's already pulling Yunho is a tight hug. "You were great, hyung. You should kick his ass harder next time."

The warmth that suddenly surrounds him is so unexpected that Yunho gasps, but it is exactly what Yunho had wished for. He feels all the tension in his body leave him as he realizes — _ he still cares. Changmin still cares, and he wants me to be happy_. Being suspended is a small price to pay if it means that he can have Changmin back. He wraps his arms carefully around Changmin too, and returns the tight embrace. "Thank you," whispers Yunho. "I really… don't know what I'd do without you."

Changmin tightens his grip at those whispered words, throat constricting as he buries his face into the crook of the older boy's neck. He _ misses _Yunho, so much that even being able to be this close to him feels like an absolution. Their father must be wrong — Yunho doesn’t need to be protected, when he can protect himself just fine. Like he’d always been able to. Doesn’t matter if he’s a beta or an omega, and Changmin would tell Yanghyun just that once they get home. 

He’ll fight for this. He’ll fight for Yunho, like he should have done in the first place.

“You’ll always have me, hyung.” Changmin hates that his voice is breaking now and tries to muffle it into the soft skin of Yunho’s neck. “I’ve got you, don’t worry.”

Yunho feels a sob come up that he only barely manages to push down. It's like such a huge part of him that had been empty has finally been filled, and he thinks this might be one of his happiest moments ever. He stays like this for a little while, then he says what he doesn't mean. "Shouldn't you be in class? I don't want you to get in trouble."

“Fuck the class,” Changmin mutters, but he still pulls away from Yunho. The absence of the older boy in his arms is a physical hurt and it prompts him to reach out to hold Yunho’s hand, loathe to let him go. “Can’t we do something about the suspension? What did Appa say? Did he tell the principal it’s not your fault?”

Yunho squeezes Changmin's hand and hesitates. "He… said he believes me," which is better than nothing. "But he seemed okay with the suspension."

Changmin scowls. “He’s okay with it? That’s not right! He knows you won’t start any fights—”

“Yes, I do,” comes Yanghyun’s voice from behind them and Changmin freezes for a half-second, before he drags his eyes away from Yunho to the familiar figure of their father. Yanghyun closes the door and takes a step closer to them, but his face is carefully blank, despite overhearing what Changmin had said. “But rules are rules, you best remember that. Yunho, we’re going home now. Get your bag from the classroom.”

“But Appa—!”

“Changmin, that’s enough. We’ll talk about it later when you get home. Right now, you’re supposed to be in class.” Yanghyun waits for the younger boy to close his mouth, before looking at Yunho expectantly. “Go on. I’ll wait for you at the car.”

Yunho slips his hand out of Changmin's and hopes that his father hadn't noticed — and then without looking at him, turns in the direction of their classroom with Changmin following close behind. Once they turn the corner and start to climb up the stairs, Yunho turns to look at the younger boy. Changmin looks back at him, the big eyes and all, and just that very sight makes him smile. "He's a lawyer, remember? He's all about the rules."

“It doesn’t matter. He should’ve defended you,” Changmin grumbles, looking disgruntled at the prospect of staying in school when Yunho is no longer around. He goes for Yunho’s hand again now that they’re alone, lacing their fingers together. “Do you think he’ll get angry if I punch Jiwook and get suspended too?”

"Yes," says Yunho without missing a single beat. "He's probably already furious, and that is _ not _ a good idea." Yunho shudders just thinking about it.

“Hyung, I don’t wanna stay in school when you’re stuck at home~” he whines, pushing out his bottom lip and widening his eyes. He’s also tugging at Yunho’s hand to stop the older boy from moving up the stairs. “It was already bad enough before.”

Yunho stares. "What are you talking about? You were the one who was avoiding me, you don't get to be sad!" exclaims Yunho.

“I didn’t want to! It’s because—” Changmin scrunches his nose and starts pouting again. It’s hard to explain his conversation with Yanghyun in the aftermath of Yunho’s heat, especially when he knows they don’t have the time to do this right now. “You’re not angry at me, are you?”

"I've never been angry at you," says Yunho. He squeezes his hand. "Just sad. But I'm not sad anymore," he clarifies quickly when he sees the younger boy's face scrunching up as soon as he hears that.

The knowledge that he’d made Yunho upset further cemented Changmin’s conviction to defy their father’s wish for him to keep his distance from the older boy. He can’t even begin to imagine months, _ years _ of just watching Yunho from the sideline, when he can’t even last weeks without being driven stir crazy by the distance between them. Changmin climbs up a few stairs so he’s at eye-level with Yunho. His expression grows somber when he says, “I’m sorry, hyung. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Yunho feels so much bigger than he had been feeling just moments earlier knowing that Changmin's on his side again, and wants nothing more than to embrace Changmin into a tight hug again. But the thought also reminds him that his father is waiting for him in the car, and he's in more trouble than he's ever been in before in his life. "I have to go," says Yunho. "Appa's going to kill me."

“No, he won’t. Umma won’t let him. I’m going to tell her what really happened and she’ll be on our side.”

"Yeah, but if I don't hurry, I'll already be dead before we get home."

Changmin concedes that point and finally lets Yunho go, following him a few steps behind as they head for their classroom. Thankfully, the teacher hasn’t arrived for the current lesson.

Yunho gathers his things from his desk, and the other boys ask what's happening. He shrugs off their questions about where he's going — he's sure Changmin can handle the questions— and rushes out of the classroom, still struggling to zip up his bag as he walks.

He is doing an awkward half-walk, half-run because heaven forbid that he break another rule about running through the halls while he's already suspended, but he doesn't want to irk his father any more than he already has by being too slow. He slows down only as his father's car comes into vision, and the immature thought of wanting to stay as long as he can away from his father and he drags his feet to the car. He stands outside the car stupidly for a second then chooses the back seat, but finds it locked as he tries it. Through the window, his father points with his chin towards front seat next to him, and Yunho has no choice but to open the door and slide reluctantly into the seat.

"Took you long enough," Yanghyun says, as soon as Yunho gets in and the door closes with a muted thump. 

He waits for his son to belt himself in before he shifts into gear, the car moving out of parking slowly. He isn't in any rush and talking to Yunho seems easier when it's just the two of them, cut off from the rest of the world. Yanghyun opts for the longest route home and sinks into the silence that's settled inside the car. Yunho still hasn't said anything, once again staring at his lap, and Yanghyun's never felt so distanced from his son. As if they're standing on different sides of a ravine, with their backs to each other. It's a disconcerting feeling, like he's losing Yunho and he hadn't even noticed. 

"Did you know the boy?" At Yunho's startled jerk, Yanghyun adds, "The one you fought with?"

Yunho shakes his head and squints at his lap. "We hadn't spoken before."

Yanghyun glances at Yunho, brows furrowed. The car slows at a red light. "He was bothering you even though you didn't know each other?" Once the light turns green, he looks forward again. "Next time you want to kick his ass, make sure you're not caught. Or do it outside of school."

Yunho freezes. He has to go through what his father said several times in his head to convince himself he heard right. He turns his head to stare at his father. "W...What?"

"Don't get caught next time," Yanghyun repeats, his mouth curling into a smile at the surprise in Yunho's voice. There's laughter gilding his words and when he looks at Yunho again, he winks. "You gotta learn to fight dirty sometimes, son."

Yunho can't believe his ears (and eyes, Yunho's just been suspended from school and his father is _ laughing_), and can't decide whether it's him or his father who's gone crazy. But either way, a smile threatens to appear on Yunho's lips too, but he remembers that he's in trouble and looks away from his father. "I'm sorry."

The apology dims Yanghyun’s grin, but he doesn’t let the disappointment shows on his face. He wishes that he’d known better, that what he’d done for the past couple weeks has been more detrimental to his son and their relationship than he realised. Yunho can’t even look at him now without fear of being reprimanded — it’s a bitter pill to swallow, to know that this chasm between them is entirely of his own doing. 

He can just hope that it’s not too late to fix this.

Yanghyun sighs. “I should be the one apologising, son.”

Yunho just looks at his father like he's grown two heads. _ What is going on right now_? "Um —"

It seems a bit silly to argue with his father for not being mad at him when he probably should be, so Yunho just stays quiet. 

Yunho’s silence lingers heavily, his confusion palpable, and Yanghyun doesn’t blame the boy. He keeps his eyes on the road and takes a few minutes to choose his words carefully, unwilling to hurt Yunho any further. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like you’re weaker or… less important if you’re an omega. Because you’re not.”

Yunho's breath hitches as he takes that in. His father didn't think… "But — but then why — why did you change when you found out — that I'm an omega?" _ Why did treat me like that, like you were punishing me for being an omega? _

"Yunho—" There's no easy way to say what he's about to say. Yanghyun knows that he should be used to it, a man in his position delivering harsh news, but this is his _son_. "Everything has changed, you have to accept that. Being an omega is… challenging, at best. I wish the world would be kind to you, but the only thing I can do is to prepare you for any and all eventuality. I wanted you to be tougher, because I didn't think you would be able to defend yourself if there’s ever a time when someone would want to take advantage of you." He glances at Yunho. “Do you remember what happened that night? When you were… alone with Changmin?”

Yunho winces. The real answer is that the entire two, three days of the worst of his heat is such a blur that he can’t remember a lot of anything. He just remembers feeling so, so… _ desperate_, and feeling terrified, because he had never, ever predicted this. “I… remember the three of us ate dinner together,” begins Yunho slowly. “And then… I came to bed, and I started feeling… worse. Then… I remember Changmin came in to ask… something, probably to ask if I’m okay. But I was already really, really out of it by then.”

Yanghyun thinks that maybe it would’ve been better for Mihyun to broach this subject, but it’s important for him to make this point. His fingers curl tighter around the steering wheel, steeling himself for a conversation he isn’t sure he’d prepared enough for. “You should’ve learnt enough at school to know how badly an omega’s heat affects an alpha. That’s why they’re constantly reminded to keep track of their cycles to make sure that they can avoid unwanted… reactions to each other. When you were—” He pauses, trying to rearrange the words inside his mouth so they come out right, “—The heat affected Changmin, like it would any other alpha. He’s not blood-related, so it’s harder for him to control his instincts, especially when your heat was peaking at the time. It’s not _ your _ fault, you understand? That’s just our biology.”

He exhales slowly, looking at Yunho’s faint reflection on the windshield.

“It’s a miracle that he managed to stop himself, but it was a… near thing.”

Yunho freezes. He knows that about alphas reacting to omegas in heats, and knows that that’s why Changmin had to leave until his heat completely petered out, but he hadn’t realized that they’d _ done _ anything, or, at any rate, come close.

And then finally, he connects the dots; this was what Changmin had apologized for on the day that he came back — and Yunho thought he was apologizing for making scratches on his wall.

Yunho squeezes his eyes shut.

“So —“ Yunho’s words get stuck in his mouth. “What… What am I supposed to —“

Yanghyun can only offer him a grim smile. It’s poor comfort, but he can’t think of anything else to lessen that blow. “It’s not your fault,” he repeats, hoping that Yunho understands that. “I told Changmin to give you some space, so you’ll know that you’re supposed to keep your distance and be wary when it comes to alphas. Especially those outside of our family and the pack.” 

Yunho curls his hands into fists and looks up at his father, guilt-ridden — just feeling absolutely awful for ever doubting Changmin. That Yunho being an omega would suddenly make the younger boy despise him. “I… I thought… I thought he didn’t want to touch me because I’m…” He doesn’t continue, because it’s such an awful thing to even think in his head, let alone say out loud, but he hopes that his father understood him.

A look of disbelief crosses Yanghyun’s face once it dawns on him that his son had been operating under that horrible misconception for who knows how long now. “Changmin wouldn’t think about you that way, no matter what happens. You should know that already, Yunho.”

“I… I should have known,” says Yunho woefully, looking at his lap instead. “But everything was so… different, and I just…” He sighs.

It’s clear how upset Yunho is over the revelation and there’s nothing Yanghyun can do about it now, except hope that he hasn’t done too much damage with how he’d chosen to handle Yunho’s situation. “It’s alright. I should’ve known better, as your father. I guess you proved me wrong today.”

It’s an unsettling future, his life going forward as an omega, and his father must be worried sick, too — because he loves him, Yunho remembers. It's something he's forgotten for the past few weeks. "I know it's going to be hard," whispers Yunho. "But when I come home — I just… wish everything could be the same."

Being a parent, Yanghyun’s first priority will always be his children. His duty as a father, as the alpha of the pack means that he will try his hardest to shelter them from the ugly side of their world and to make sure that they do not come to any harm. But sometimes he forgets that Yunho is not a cub anymore. That he can make his own decisions and going forward, Yanghyun would have to learn to trust him to make the right ones. And making sure their home is a safe space for Yunho, and the rest of his children, is the very least that he can do as a parent. 

“Of course.” He nods, regretting how much pressure he must’ve placed on Yunho before. In hindsight, he should’ve listened to his wife. Yanghyun can almost see her unimpressed face, can hear her voice saying _ I told you so_. Maybe he should apologise to her too after this. “I want you to know that your happiness is the only thing that matters to me. And that I’ll always love you.”

Yunho knew that of course, but the doubts that he'd been having have now washed away, and the flood of relief that brings him is so intense that he finds himself close to tears again. His family and the pack was always the most important thing for him, and if he has his family back, there's nothing else to wish for. "I love you too," Yunho manages. He looks at his father as he says it, and his father glances at him again from where he's driving.

Yanghyun’s chest feels so much lighter once he sees the light in Yunho’s eyes, now that Yunho isn’t avoiding him anymore. He makes the turn towards their neighbourhood and says, “That’s good.” A heavy pause. “You’re telling your mother about this whole suspension thing.”

"Y-you haven't told her?" stutters Yunho. "Is she… even expecting us, or is she gonna have a heart attack when she sees us?"

"I'm dropping you off at home and then going back to the office," Yanghyun says, only half-joking. Or not. He grimaces when he thinks about what Mihyun would say. "Good luck, son."

"_Appa_," whines Yunho in panic. "You can't do that! Please help me, Appa, _ please!_"

The car rolls to a stop in the driveway. Yanghyun can see Mihyun’s head looking up from the patch of homegrown vegetables to the side, her smile upon seeing him sliding into confusion when she catches sight of Yunho in the passenger seat. Confusion then turns to concern as she straightens, a gardening trowel in hand, and gestures for them to come out of the car. It’s a vaguely threatening gesture, to be honest, and Yanghyun debates actually going back to the office. 

He starts to nudge at Yunho, pushing him towards the door. “Go on. Remember that I love you very, very much.”

"I leave all my chew toys to Changmin and Jihye," breathes Yunho, just watching his mother walk closer and closer to the car. "Please scatter my ashes over the ocean."

He pushes open the door and says a prayer in his head as he comes face to face with his mother. 

Mihyun peers at her husband through the window but Yanghyun is steadfastly looking at his phone like he’s reading something important. Which doesn’t make any sense because she can see on the reflection on his glasses that he’s just staring at the wallpaper on the screen. She turns to Yunho, who definitely _ should not _ be home right now. 

“Did something happen at school?”

"It wasn't fair," blurts out Yunho, eyes wide. "Umma, you have to believe me, okay? I just wanted him to stop touching me, so I put him in a shoulder lock. No one got hurt. And that's the most important part, right?" He looks at his mother expectantly, with a half-smile.

“Shoulder lock? What—?” Her brows furrow, creasing her forehead. “_Who _ did you put in a shoulder lock? And why did your father pick you up from school…” The sentence trails off as understanding dawns, and Mihyun pokes Yunho’s chest with the pointy end of her dirt-covered trowel. “Did you get into a fight?!”

"I defended myself against an alpha who put his hands all over me," corrects Yunho. He steps back; the trowel is a bit too threatening right now. "There was no… _ fighting_. Per se."

Mihyun’s frown gets deeper when she hears about the alpha, protective instinct flaring up in response to what those words implied. “Jung Yunho, why did your father bring you home?”

"Um —" Yunho glances at his father to see if he's going to help, but he's still in the car, not looking at either of them. "I… I…" These are words that Yunho had no idea he would ever say to his parents. But here he is. Yunho winces. "I… got suspended from school."

Mihyun stares at him, wide-eyed. And then her expression slowly shutters into one of unnatural calm. She tosses the trowel over her shoulder, where it lands upright in the soil she’d been digging around, and starts taking off her gloves. “Tell your father to get his ass out of the car. Both of you, in the house. Right now.”

Yunho lets out the breath that he’d been holding as she turns and walks to the house, and then turns to his father in the car. He puts down his phone as Yunho walks towards him. Yunho opens the door for him. “It looks like we’re going to be dying together, Appa.”

Yanghyun sighs. So much for saving himself. He climbs out of the car and waits for Yunho to close the door. He then pats Yunho’s shoulder in commiseration. “Remember, son. If all else fails: _ grovel_. Hard.”

"I'm a pro at that," replies Yunho grimly. As they walk up like pigs for slaughter, Yunho carefully wraps his arm around his father's waist, feeling relieved that finally, they're on the same side again. Yanghyun looks surprised for a moment, but then smiles and puts his arm around Yunho's shoulders and squeezes.

By the time they’ve made their way inside, Mihyun is already waiting in the kitchen. Sitting at the head of the table, like a presiding judge. 

Yanghyun exchanges a look with Yunho, before meekly taking a seat to Mihyun’s right side.

“Tell me what happened,” Mihyun says, still with that threatening brand of calmness. Her eyes flicker from Yanghyun to her son. “Yunho?”

Yunho looks up at her with the most pathetic wolf-cub eyes he can muster. "The school didn't care that the alpha was touching me without permission. So they suspended me."

"What _ alpha_?" Mihyun asks sharply, eyes narrowing. She'd never heard of any of her children getting into trouble at school and now her eldest comes home with a suspension. This month is turning out to be one revelation after another. "Yunho, did you get into a fight with another student?"

"He was defending himself," Yanghyun cuts in, sparing the need for Yunho to reiterate the story all over again. "Did a new family move in? The kid who harassed Yunho isn't anyone we know, right?"

Mihyun frowns, then her expression changes as she remembers. She may be a beta, but gossip travels fast in the pack. "I did hear that a new family tried reaching out to our pack, to see if they might be able to join. I guess you'll hear about it in the alpha meeting next week."

Yanghyun nods, thoughtful. He almost forgot about the meeting, but it's good reason to consider his attendance to be mandatory. He'd like to speak to the head of that particular family and perhaps actually meet the little shithead that dared to mess with Yunho. "They have to suspend him because the fight happened at school, honey. I talked to Mr. Cheon and he assured me that he'll keep this off of Yunho's record, since this is his first offence."

"Oh, thank goodness," mutters Mihyun, shaking her head. After the initial display of relief, she looks at Yanghyun and narrows her eyes. "And if you think it's a _ coincidence _ that Yunho got into trouble at the _ exact same time that _ —"

See, this is why he should've kept his mouth shut and gone back to his office. Yanghyun raises both hands in a placatory gesture, hoping to come out of this alive, and says, "Yunho and me — We talked! And I already apologised to him!" He turns to his son for help. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes," says Yunho quickly. "He has." He looks from one parent to the other. "Speaking of which… Appa, I didn't… get the chance to tell the dance crew that I'm quitting today." He clears his throat. "Also… the dance competition is this weekend."

Yanghyun feels like he's stuck between a rock and a hard place, which is his least favourite position. Since Mihyun is there and he'd already touted the success of their reconciliation, it's not like he can tell Yunho off for not quitting the crew. Again. "You don't have to quit." His brows furrow. "But you still need to get better grades."

Yunho feels the biggest smile breaking out on his face, and his heart soars. So much so that he actually jumps out of his chair. "_Yes_! Yes, I'll bring my grades up, Appa, thank you!"

It’s impossible to keep a stern expression in the face Yunho’s elation and Yanghyun feels a smile tugging at his mouth, one that grows when he sees Mihyun looking at him with approval. After being in the doghouse for weeks, maybe he’d get a bit of action tonight. A man can dream, after all. Mihyun shakes her head at him, still smiling, and raps the table with her knuckles to get Yunho’s attention.

“You’re still suspended,” she points out, cutting his celebration short. “How long is it for?” 

"Five days," says Yunho carefully, sitting down again — five days and a week are basically the same thing, except five days sounds shorter.

“So, a _ week_.” Mihyun sighs and glances at her mate. “I hope your father already told you that you’re grounded. For at least a month.”

Yunho knows he's on thin ice, but he figures it's worth a try — "Um," he says, shifting his eyes at his mother. "Am… I still allowed to go to the dance competition?"

The hope in Yunho’s voice makes Mihyun smile again, as it’s good to see so much life in her son for the first time in a good while. She’d worried about him, still is (despite Yanghyun’s turnabout), and she wouldn’t want to take this away from him. “Of course, sweetheart.” She takes his hand in hers and adds, “I’m still disappointed that you’d resort to fighting though. It’s not the kind of example I want you to set for your brother and sister.”

Despite the fact that Yunho doesn't believe he did anything wrong, he's able to concede that point and nods. "Yes, Umma." When she smiles back at him, Yunho decides that the ice he's standing on is thicker than it first appeared, so he tries again. "Uh… so, when does— did— the grounding start?" His mother looks confused, so Yunho clarifies. "I mean… is this retroactive too, because I've effectively been grounded for the past two weeks for no reason, so does that count towards —" He has to dodge the swipe of his mother's hand.

“Don’t even try it, young man.” Mihyun shakes her head, but there’s a laughing tilt to her mouth, no matter how hard she’s trying to suppress it. “Now go up to your room and change, because I can use another pair of hands in the garden.”

Yunho mumbles something about jail time counting retroactively when serving time, which he recently learned in Civics class, but he does as his mother says. He doesn't want to push his luck too much. He glances at the clock as he changes his clothes in his room — It's still before lunchtime, and there is still quite a bit of time before his siblings get home. He wonders what Changmin's doing right now, and hopes he comes home soon.

.

Changmin practically crashes through the front door in his haste to get inside, kicking off his shoes and only shoving them into place as an afterthought. He’d skipped practice just so he can get home as quickly as he can, can barely remember what he’d learnt throughout the day as his entire being has narrowed down to wondering about what Yunho is doing. And if the older boy is being punished by their father — Yanghyun’s face didn’t give anything away when Changmin saw him outside of the office, but Changmin’s already thinking of the worst case scenario. 

He calls out an "_I’m home!_” for his mother’s benefit halfway up the stairs, but doesn’t wait to hear her response.

He pushes the door to Yunho’s room open so hard it bounces back and almost smacks him in the face. “Hyung!” And pauses when he’s greeted by the sight of Yunho’s bare back, skin glistening with sweat and the waistband of his shorts sitting low on his hips. Changmin swallows, wide-eyed, and squeaks out a, “Hyung?”

"Oh," says Yunho. He can't help but smile widely as he gathers his clothes on his way into the shower. "You're home!"

“Y-Yeah.” Changmin isn’t even blinking, but he’d averted his eyes to stare hard at Yunho’s face. Very careful to avoid looking at the older boy’s chest. And his belly. And those sloping lines heading southwards, down into— He swallows again. “Are you okay? What did Appa say?”

"Oh, you're not going to believe it," grins Yunho, taking Changmin by the wrist and dragging him inside his room. Yunho closes the door behind them so that they can gossip freely.

Changmin’s brain is kind of short-circuiting, what’s with Yunho still sweaty and shirtless and now there’s a hand on his wrist and the door’s locked, so he thinks it’s perfectly understandable that his reply ends up being, “_Wuh?_”

"Appa wasn't even upset," says Yunho, eyes wide to make him understand how crazy this situation is. He drags Changmin to his bed so that they can both sit down. "And I don't even have to quit the dance crew, Changmin!"

Changmin is trying very hard to concentrate on Yunho’s words, but they’re now sitting in bed, pressed very close together and Yunho smells _ warm_. The older boy is no longer holding his hand (small mercies) and that helps him focus on Yunho’s bright happiness. “That’s great! So you’re not suspended anymore? Appa worked it out with Mr. Cheon?”

Yunho is slightly more crestfallen at the reminder. "I'm still suspended. And also grounded. For a whole month. So you have to help me get caught up on school. _ Again_."

“_What?_” Changmin starts to stand, face pulled into a frown. “He can’t ground you! You didn’t do anything wrong! I’m gonna talk to him—”

"No, no, it wasn't even Appa who grounded me! It was Umma." Yunho shakes his head urgently. "But it doesn't even matter. I can go to the dance competition, Changmin!"

Changmin lowers himself back to bed, his frown turning more confused than angry. He isn’t expecting their mother to be the one who grounded Yunho, when he’d thought that their father would be the concern. But Yunho’s happy enough to be allowed to join the competition and it seems like that’s the only thing that matters. “What made Appa change his mind? He was pretty pissed about the competition the last time.”

Honestly, it's all a blur, and Yunho doesn't really remember why his father decided he didn't need to be hard on him anymore; he just remembers that his father apologized to him, and now they see eye to eye. The same way that he doesn't remember why Changmin changed his mind, but he's just _ glad _ that things are back to normal. Yunho shrugs. "I'm not sure, but I'm not complaining." He looks at Changmin a bit sadly. "You can't come to the competition, right? You said you have training for your swim meet next week."

“I’ll definitely come!” That turn of phrase makes blood rush to Changmin’s cheeks once he realised what had just come out of his mouth and he slams it shut with an audible click, hoping that Yunho doesn’t catch on. “I-I mean— I can skip practice. You know I never missed any of your competition before, hyung. I’m not gonna start now.”

Yunho frowns. "Are you sure your coach is going to be okay with it?"

The coach’s probably going to have his hide, but Yunho doesn’t need to know that. Changmin grins, bumping Yunho’s thigh with his own. “It’s not a problem.” And raises his eyebrows, affecting a wounded expression. “Unless you don’t want me there?”

"_No! _ What?! How could you think that?" Yunho wraps his arms around Changmin and presses his skin against Changmin for the first time in what feels like forever. "Of _ course _ I want you there! I just didn't want you to be in trouble."

Changmin stiffens into the hug and it feels as though his brain has disconnected itself from the rest of his body, because if he has any semblance of rational thought left, he’d know that hugging Yunho back is Not A Good Idea. And that’s just what he does: his hands wind themselves around Yunho, pulling the older boy closer so that he can burrow his face into Yunho’s neck. Changmin inhales deeply, taking in the scent that’s purely Yunho’s and his stomach hollows out from the realisation of how much he’d missed being this close to Yunho. It doesn’t matter what their father had said — there’s no way Changmin would allow Yunho to get hurt, not even from himself. He shifts then, using the leverage he has to push Yunho flat onto the bed so he can drape himself all over the older boy. The sweet-salty taste on his tongue when he licks at Yunho’s mouth sends warmth curling in his belly.

“_I__’ve missed you_,” he murmurs, nosing at Yunho’s neck. 

"I'll bet you _ anything _ I missed you more," whispers Yunho. He smiles to himself as he squeezes the grey wolf closer to himself. The soft fur glides between his fingers, and everything feels okay as he takes in a breath through his nose, fully taking in Changmin's musky scent. "I really hope this is how it's always going to be."

Changmin hums in agreement, finding words to be inadequate to demonstrate how sorry he is to have kept away for weeks. It shouldn’t have mattered what anyone else thinks, even Yanghyun — he knows where his place is and that’s right next to Yunho. His snout nudges at the soft underside of Yunho’s jaw and he playfully nips at him, replacing his teeth with his tongue when Yunho starts giggling. Pinning Yunho into place with his paws, Changmin mutters, “_Hojun asked about you, before I got home._”

"Oh yeah?" asks Yunho, and to be honest, he's not all that interested. After their little argument, they hadn't really taken the time to make up. Yunho spent most of his free time in the classroom in the last two weeks, getting caught up on schoolwork. Yunho does want to clear the air with them soon, but it looks like it'll have to wait until after his suspension is over. "What did you tell him?"

“_He heard about that asshole_.” Changmin lifts his head to stare at Yunho, eyes narrowing. Now that he has Yunho all to himself, he’s loathe to share. “_I told him it’s none of his business._”

Yunho chuckles and pecks at Changmin's nose with his lips. "Good job."

A pleased grin uncurls across Changmin’s face, full of teeth. He still doesn’t know what those older boys had fought about, but if it allows him to monopolise Yunho, he’s not going to complain. “_Did you ask Appa if you can teach at the community centre? If I have to watch kids drown, I’d feel better with you there._”

Yunho laughs. "You wouldn't let anyone drown. Plus, they're all going to be wolf cubs, everyone should know how to swim at least a bit, naturally." He turns around so that Changmin falls off his chest— it's getting pretty warm, and Yunho was sweaty to begin with; strands of Changmin's fur stick to Yunho's chest. "I haven't asked yet, but I will at dinner, maybe. Which, I have to shower before dinner. I'm all sticky and gross."

“_I might drown some of them,_” Changmin murmurs, thinking about the bunch of rambunctious cubs he’d seen running around the park during pack outings. He doesn’t remember being so rowdy when he was their age. Getting dislodged makes him pout at Yunho, before he pounces on the older boy, rolling Yunho onto his back again. “_You smell fine. Shower later._”

Yunho would have pushed Changmin off on a normal day, but this is no normal day; he's missed this, missed _ him. _ So he just embraces the younger boy in his arms again and relaxes over the bed again. Changmin huffs in triumph and lays his head into the crook of Yunho’s neck, closing his eyes as he savours the rise and fall of Yunho’s chest underneath him. The weight of Yunho’s arms, the warmth of his skin, the sweet scent of _ home _ rolling off of him — Changmin knows, with every fibre of the primal instinct hardwired into his DNA, that this is how it’s supposed to be. That they would always belong together. 

They’ve drifted off to sleep by the time Jihye cracks the door open, and upon seeing her brothers curled together in bed, takes out her phone for a picture.

.

**tbc**

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	10. Chapter 10

.

The morning sky is smooth and bleached white by sunshine when Changmin looks out of the open window, breathing in the familiar stirring of the beginning of autumn. It's getting colder nowadays as the seasons shift and he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans, rocking on the balls of his feet as he waits for Yunho. He hears Jihye's voice from downstairs, in yet another loud argument with their father about his refusal to let her go out on a date. Changmin doesn't think she's going to change Yanghyun's mind any time soon, but he can admire her persistence.

Jihye, after all, is stubbornness personified and she always gets her way. Sooner or later.

The door swings open to reveal Yunho's grinning face, one hand carding through his hair to push dark strands back from his face. He's going to need a haircut soon. His grin gets wider when he catches Changmin's eyes. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Changmin frowns when he notices that Yunho's only wearing a sweater, and not even a thick one at that. "You should get your coat, hyung."

"It's going to get warm once I start dancing, it should be fine," says Yunho, but he nonetheless reaches into his closet for a jacket. He slips it on and turns to Changmin, who smiles.

“Better.” Changmin raises his hand to pat Yunho’s hair into place, smoothing over parts where Yunho’s hair is sticking up. “We should go before Jihye decides to join us again.”

Which would’ve been fine, if she doesn’t make it a habit to look at Yunho and him with this weird, secretive grins when she thinks she’s being subtle. And then spend most of her time at the community centre trying to convince the younger cubs that there are monsters lurking in the bottom of the pool, just waiting to snack on them. Changmin loves her dearly, but she’s becoming quite a menace and Yunho just lets her get away with everything. The argument has dwindled to muttered complaints by the time they get downstairs and there’s already packed lunches for both of them sitting on the kitchen table.

“We’re going to visit the Chois today,” Mihyun says, wiping her hands dry from where she’d been doing the dishes. “We should be back before dinner, but if we run late, there’s food in the fridge.”

“Thanks, Umma," smiles Yunho. He slings an arm around her waist. "Have fun at the Chois."

The pat on Yunho's back and the smile that he gets in return is comforting, and when he turns, Changmin's outstretched hand, silently asking Yunho to take it, is even more so. This amount of love that he's been getting from everyone, and him being able to truly _appreciate_it has been a new experience. Having Changmin back, in particular, has been indescribable. Changmin had been occupying a bigger part of him than Yunho had ever consciously known, it seems, and he's not ever willing to let Changmin slip away, ever again. He squeezes the younger boy's hand as he takes it.

The weight of Yunho’s hand in his is reassuring in ways that Changmin can’t even begin to describe. Being able to be this close to Yunho, holding onto him without worrying if they’re doing anything wrong is liberating. Changmin doesn’t hold back anymore with physical affections — one of his arms is a constant fixture around Yunho’s shoulder or waist, or there’s a hand on Yunho’s forearm, on the small of Yunho’s back. Keeping Yunho close, whenever he can. He sleeps curled up against Yunho most nights, his long, lean wolf form has worn a permanent dent into Yunho’s bed. More often than not, they’ll come out from the same room in the morning and nobody even bats an eyelash over it. It feels _right_and Changmin doesn’t want any of this to change. 

The community centre is close enough that they usually just walk there if the weather permits. Some of their neighbours are already outside, aunties who call out to ask where they’re going (even though they do this almost every single weekend). Yunho always stops for a chat that would usually be punctuated with invitations to go inside for tea or cakes or something else, if not for Changmin’s gentle tug to remind the older boy that they’re going to be late for the classes if they keep pausing every few houses. The aunties seem to find their hand-holding somewhat sweet and have taken to cooing over them, saying how pleased they are to see such closeness between brothers. It never failed to make Changmin’s ears turn red and for Yunho to laugh brightly, holding his hand tighter.

By the time they manage to escape those middle-aged women and their titterings, there are already kids waiting for them in front of the centre. Some of the smaller cubs are accompanied by their parents, but they’re usually left in the care of Yunho and Changmin as soon as they arrive.

Changmin tilts his head towards Yunho, reluctant to let him go but knowing that he has to anyway. Duty calls. “I’ll see you in a bit?”

Yunho nods, hesitantly letting go of Changmin's hand. His classes tend to be shorter than Changmin's, just because Changmin has to do a lot more preparation before his classes and there's more to clean up after, but Yunho always waits for him to finish so that they can walk home together. "Have a fun class."

“Yeah, if Beomseok doesn’t pee in the pool again, I’d consider today a success,” Changmin mutters darkly, spying the troublemaking cub at the fringe of the group. He gently nudges at Yunho’s shoulder in parting. “Go easy on the kids, hyung.”

"You too," grins Yunho, before he is more or less barrelled into by his own class of cubs who all want to hold his hand or cling onto his legs; even some of the cubs from Changmin's class flock to Yunho, and he has to redirect them to Changmin, who looks more tired than anything already. Yunho lets himself be dragged into the dance classroom — he's glad his father allowed him to teach in the end, but it's going to be a long day.

At the end of his class, Changmin has had to fish out three over-adventurous kids from the deeper end of the pool so that everyone is cleaned up and ready to go home. They’re very vocal in their displeasure to be chased out of the water — some of them refuse to shift out of their wet cub forms, whining and making the most pathetic puppy faces at Changmin — and the only thing that gets them going is when Yunho drops by once he’d wrapped up his own class. It has become some kind of a routine now: Yunho would coax those unruly kids out of their bathing suits and into the showers, while Changmin makes sure everything is in order before he locks up for the day. It takes more than half an hour just to get those kids through the door and by the time they’re gone, Changmin is _exhausted_. He doesn’t even want to see any of those kids again in this decade. But Yunho, because he seems to be powered by some kind of an inexhaustible combustion engine, continues waving at Eunji, the little girl practically walking backwards just so she can wave back, right until she disappears around the corner.

Changmin leans against the wall as he watches the older boy. He’s grinning when he says, “You know, you should learn how to swim too. I’ll even teach you for free, hyung.”

"Yeah," laughs Yunho. Eventually, it's probably a good idea to learn how to swim. He turns to the door, assuming that they're going to go, but Changmin stands there, unmoving. And then Yunho gets it. "_Now?_"

“There’s no time like the present.” Changmin peels himself off of the wall and stalks to where Yunho’s standing. He’s still only wearing his swimming trunks, muscles rippling as he stretches around Yunho to close and lock the door. His grin slants into a smirk. “C’mon, let’s take your clothes off.”

"W-wait, I don't even have a bathing suit," says Yunho, mild panic settling in.

Changmin pauses. And then very slowly raises his eyebrows. “Are you suggesting that we skinny dip?”

"_Not _at the community pool, I was suggesting we _do this another time_!" protests Yunho.

“Yeah, okay, we’ll go skinny-dipping in a not-community pool later. Got it.” Changmin’s laughing as he places his hands on Yunho’s shoulder, pulling him towards the pool before he can escape. “It’s no big deal. I’ve got an extra in my locker. You’re always stealing my clothes anyway.”

"You're always stealing mine too," retorts Yunho, but realizing that he's not going to win, he turns towards Changmin. "Okay, okay. Let me get changed then. Show me where your locker is."

Changmin barely manages to stop himself from fist-pumping in triumph and, with his hands still on Yunho’s shoulders, starts steering him to where the lockers are. There’s a row of them inside the changing room and his is right at the end, isn’t even locked so it takes just a few seconds to extract the pair of dark blue trunks from his bag. “Might be a bit of a tight fit,” he says, eyeing Yunho’s thighs. “But that never stopped you from stretching my underwear before, right?”

Yunho snatches the trunks from Changmin's hand and blushes. "Close your eyes and turn around while I change."

Changmin crosses his arms. “Why? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before. You’ve got a dick, hyung. I have one too.”

Yunho shoves Changmin away. "We're in _public_, please, a bit of _modesty_!"

“_Technically_, we’re not in public.” He throws out his hands, gesturing at the empty changing room. “It’s just the two of us!”

Yunho whines in protest and blushing hard, disappears behind one of the changing areas behind a curtain while Changmin cackles. Once he finishes, he hesitantly comes out, holding the clothes he's just changed out of over his chest, feeling self-conscious in a way that he doesn't when he's at home.

Changmin knows well enough that Yunho is beautiful. Growing up in the same household, it’s impossible to not notice that particular fact and it’s something Changmin keeps to himself. Like a dirty secret, one he would only examine when he’s alone in the privacy of his own head. He doesn’t think it’s because Yunho is an omega — he’d thought the same thing even when they grew up believing Yunho to be a beta. The older boy has the kind of prettiness that’s not exactly delicate or vulnerable, but one that doesn’t give way to the hard edges that should’ve come with age. He’s soft where Changmin is made of sharper angles, and right now, with the way he’s hiding behind his discarded clothes and avoiding Changmin’s eyes, cheeks flushed with red—

_Pretty. So, so pretty._

Changmin holds out his hand for those clothes before his mouth can blurt out something embarrassing. “Let me put them in the locker for you.”

Yunho reluctantly gives up his clothes, and instead, crosses his arms over his shoulders. His face is still feeling really hot, and he feels even hotter when Changmin comes back and holds out his hand to lead him back out into the pool. He doesn't know why he's suddenly feeling so shy as he clasps his hand around Changmin's — and he averts his gaze from Changmin's defined abs — a feature Yunho has never had. _Don't, Yunho, don't stare_, Yunho thinks to himself over and over, and he manages not to, but it only colours his cheeks redder and redder.

It's a bit better when they're immersed in the water, and at least Yunho has a bit of coverage that way.

Yunho splashes in the pool with Changmin sometimes, and like all wolves, he can paddle his way across a reasonable distance in his wolf, but swimming in his human form is a different story. It doesn't feel natural, and he's always been amazed at how Changmin seems to be so adept at it, while Yunho doesn't even like putting his head underwater for more than a couple seconds.

"Okay. Lesson one. Blowing bubbles," says Changmin, his voice calm and even, although there’s a twinkle in his eyes that can only be amusement. It’s nothing unkind and he offers an explanation soon after. "Take a deep breath, and then blow bubbles underwater for as long as you can."

Changmin demonstrates, and Yunho laughs in delight at the sight. Changmin grins, thinks that the giggle is cuter than those of the smallest cubs in his class. Yunho doesn’t seem as self-conscious anymore, drawing closer to watch him. "Your turn, hyung."

Yunho nods. "Okay, okay." He tentatively lowers himself into the water until just his eyes are showing and blows out a breath, sending a stream of bubbles up. Once he finishes exhaling the breath, he straightens up and laughs again.

"Come on, hyung, those are baby bubbles. You can do better than that," smirks Changmin, and again, Yunho lowers himself into the water, shuts his eyes tight and blows, hard.

A few more tries later, Changmin looks pleased enough. "That’s great," he declares. "Let’s move on to lesson two."

"Already?" asks Yunho, panicking slightly.

"Yeah.” A surge of maniacal laughter rattles inside Changmin’s throat but he swallows it down. He says, faux-innocently, “You’re really good at blowing. Any better and you can start charging.”

Yunho looks at Changmin with confusion written all over his face. "What are you talking about?"

“Never mind that.” Changmin’s quick to divert from the topic, mostly because he’d rather not explain to Yunho what he’d been thinking. When he sees that the older boy is starting to pout, he hastily moves on to the next step. “Now you’re going learn to to kick.”

"Okay," says Yunho hesitantly. "Tell me what to do."

It’s a lot better to do this on deck first, but Changmin thinks that he can skip that particular half-step. He coaxes Yunho further away from the edge of the pool and holds out his hands in front of him, making sure that Yunho isn’t going anywhere beyond reach. “Grab my hands and extend your body in the water behind you. You can do it slowly, it’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Yunho reaches out to grab onto Changmin's hands, feeling them securely in his grip before sending one leg up, then hesitantly the other — before he feels himself sinking down for a split second, and he jerks both feet down and plants them back down onto the bottom of the pool again. "Changmin!" he whines.

“You’re not kicking, hyung. Of course you’re gonna sink.” Changmin slides his hands to grip the upper part of Yunho’s forearms, bringing him closer for a few moments. Yunho’s lips are pursed again and they glisten wetly, too much of a distraction that Changmin _really _does not need right now. He concentrates on the instruction instead, a safer ground. “When you have both your legs up, just start kicking your legs up and down. Don’t bend your knees too much, alright? Keep your legs mostly straight.”

Yunho nods and furrows his brows in concentration. As he brings his legs up this time, he starts to kick — he feels himself sinking down slightly again, but when he starts kicking faster, he feels himself floating up again. A wide smile spreads across his face. He thinks he finally understands what Changmin feels when he swims, and it's probably a liberating feeling that Yunho's never really had the opportunity to know. And sharing this experience with Changmin is all the more special. He looks up at Changmin and meets his eyes.

Warmth uncurls in Changmin’s belly as he watches the smile grows on Yunho’s face, replacing the look of uncertainty he’d worn much earlier with such eagerness and delight that they radiate through each point of contact. The water has always been Changmin’s territory and to have Yunho here with him, enjoying something Changmin holds very dear, is one of the best feelings in the world. This moment ranks right up there, in that cluster of Yunho-shaped memories he keeps close to his heart all these years. Changmin’s smile isn’t as wide, but it has gone tender. He doesn’t even realise that he’s pulling Yunho towards him again. Even closer this time, until there’s almost no space between them and Yunho has to lower his feet to the bottom of the pool to get some leverage.

Changmin uses the grip that he has on Yunho’s forearms to flip him around, so that the older boy’s back is pressed to the side of the pool. It’s all instincts now and _wants _and _needs_and everything in between, coursing through his veins and drowning out the small voice telling him that this is a bad idea.

How can it be, when he’s with _Yunho_?

It all happens quickly, but somehow, it feels natural; even his heart pounding out of his chest. Changmin draws closer, and Yunho's not exactly sure what to expect, but he closes his eyes, content to let Changmin take the lead as he gently brings his arms up to place them over Changmin's shoulders, around his neck. Changmin crowds against him, arms on either side to keep Yunho in place as the air around them grows thick. It feels as if the world is at a standstill, holding its breath, and the gentle ripples on the water surface are the only reminder that this is as real as it gets. Changmin’s eyes are fixated on Yunho’s lips, on the dark crescents of wet lashes over pale cheeks. The way Yunho allows him to press himself close enough that they could’ve shared breaths, finding no resistance whatsoever.

Changmin exhales shakily, a thumb and forefinger on Yunho’s chin to tilt his face so that when Changmin leans forward to close those excruciating few inches, his mouth slots perfectly over Yunho’s.

It's as if every part of the universe has clicked into its rightful place. Changmin's soft lips press delicately against Yunho's, and Yunho draws in a breath, taking in the moment to etch it into his heart.

The shift of Yunho’s lips at that inhale prompts Changmin to cup his hands over Yunho’s face, cradling his jaw gently. His mouth nudges and moves against Yunho’s, more insistent now that he’s no longer afraid of being pushed away. The kiss is still tender and sweet, just a little bit wetter when Changmin starts licking Yunho’s mouth open, and he takes his time to learn the shape of those lips. His entire head is filled with the soft, hitching sounds Yunho makes, leaving no room for anything else, and he doesn’t want this to end. He wants to keep kissing Yunho over and over again, wants to learn what other noises Yunho would make if he goes further. If he puts his mouth on Yunho’s jaw and throat and collarbone, _everywhere else_. Changmin breaks the kiss when he realises that perhaps he’s gone too far, a sliver of fear wedging its way inside as he looks at Yunho, taking in the closed eyes and slick lips.

His stomach clenches with visceral hunger and the urge to kiss Yunho again is almost crippling, but somehow, he refrains. Somehow, his voice doesn’t crack when he whispers, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Yunho's a little breathless as he opens his eyes. It's as if his world is a little more colourful as he takes in the sight of Changmin's glistening eyes, and he realizes— this is _right_. He touches his forehead against Changmin's. "I didn't know that I wanted that," admits Yunho. He smiles as he sees Changmin look up into his eyes. "I don't know how I didn't know."

Relief floods his lungs and Changmin finds himself breathing right again, as his hands move from Yunho’s shoulders downwards. The water undulates around them, the ripples getting larger when Changmin grabs the back of Yunho’s thighs and hitches Yunho’s legs around his waist. He ducks his head to press his mouth to the soft skin just above Yunho’s jaw, tongue tickling over the furled shell of his ear before his teeth tug at the lobe.

The surety of his movement is at odds with how soft his voice is as he asks, “Can I— Can I kiss you again?”

Yunho laughs, and he closes his eyes again, the smile staying on his face until he pushes forward and their lips meet again. It's as if time and space have stopped around them, and the only thing that matters in the universe is Changmin, and this moment. Yunho tightens his hold around Changmin's torso and nips at his soft bottom lip, tasting the light chlorine of the pool before Changmin starts kissing back, with more certainty this time. His hands are possessive curls of fingers spanning Yunho’s ribs, as if he’s afraid that Yunho’s going to go running if he lets go. He deepens the kiss, nudging the seam of Yunho’s mouth open with the tip of his tongue and licking his way inside. Tasting and exploring each crevice, _memorising_. Their teeth clack together when he shifts, tilting his head to try and get more of Yunho, convinced that there’s still space between them when there’s literally none.

He revels in the way Yunho’s clutching at him, holding him with shaking hands. He decides that he likes to have Yunho hanging onto him like this. He has Yunho, who’s all _his_. 

Changmin’s lungs feel like exploding when he finally pulls back, but not before he presses tiny kisses to the corner of Yunho’s mouth. To his cheek and jaw and browbone. To the tip of his nose. He grins, inexplicably shyly, when he sees Yunho looking at him. All flushed, mouth swollen and slippery and still so pretty he makes Changmin’s stomach flip and churn with so much wanting. “We should probably get out of here.”

_So I can kiss you properly_, is what he doesn’t say, but the implication is there.

The kiss has been so disorientating that Yunho has to pull himself back together before he even understands what Changmin's talking about. "Oh," manages Yunho. "...Yeah. Maybe you can teach me the next lesson another time."

He tries to pull himself up to the deck, but his arms give out at the same time that his feet slip, and he very ungracefully splashes down towards the water with a surprised, "_Whoa!"_, and he's stopped from submerging underwater only by Changmin and his hold on him.

Changmin laughs, eyes crinkling with mischief as he presses his chest to Yunho’s back under the pretence of keeping him up. His mouth finds the back of Yunho’s neck — a kiss there and then another to the shell of Yunho’s ear. “Was I that good of a kisser, _hyung_?”

Yunho turns towards Changmin to narrow his eyes. "Well, that was only my first kiss, so I don't have much comparison to go by." He feigns mock thoughtfulness. "So far, I guess that was the number one kiss I've had. Out of one."

A growl rumbles in Changmin’s throat, displeasure pulling at his face. He steps into the space between them, heedless of what little resistance from the water, to press hard and firm into Yunho. “No comparison,” he snaps, the possessiveness in his voice pouring out thickly. “_No one else._”

"Well," grins Yunho. He didn't realize this sooner, but he finds Changmin quite adorable when he gets like this. "Hopefully you're going to kiss me more than this one time." He looks into Changmin's eyes and the stars there to whisper, "Just me."

Changmin doesn’t deign to answer that with words. Instead, he leans forward and kisses Yunho again, gently and languidly. Punctuating it with a whispered ‘_only you_’ against Yunho’s mouth, like an oath. He curls an arm around Yunho, keeping him close under the water, and rubs his thumb along Yunho’s cheekbone. The heat in Yunho’s eyes clears to something painfully tender as he looks at Changmin. He reaches up and Changmin’s breath catches in his throat when Yunho cards his fingers through Changmin’s hair, dragging the wet strands off Changmin’s forehead. They’re both breathing together, like everything else they’ve done throughout their intertwined lives, and this moment feels simultaneously fleeting and like it’s going to last for a lifetime.

A sound from the hallway fractures this little world of theirs and Changmin’s reminded that the janitor usually does his rounds right about this time. He lands one last peck on Yunho’s lips and helps him to get on deck, hauling himself out of the pool straight after. They laughingly stumble into the changing room, where Changmin tries to convince Yunho to get into the same shower stall together to no avail. The older boy has reverted back to his earlier shyness, pushing Changmin out of the room when he’s changing. As if they haven’t seen each other naked before. Changmin gets a glimpse of bare thighs and that’s about it, which is a tragedy if you ask him. They hold hands as they walk out of the centre, much closer now than they were on the way there, and Changmin savours this new lightness in his chest. The pleasant tingle of his mouth as he thinks about kissing Yunho. And the warmth that comes with the knowledge that Yunho feels the same.

A sudden thought strikes him and his steps falter to a stop. “Hyung?” Changmin swallows. “Should we— What are we gonna tell Appa and Umma?”

Yunho stops too, the problem never having entered his head in his newfound bliss, and he stares at Changmin. "Um." Perhaps they should take some time to think about it. After all, they have been quite protective since he presented as an omega, and who knows how far that's going to go? Even if it's Changmin. "I'm not sure," says Yunho slowly. "Maybe… we shouldn't tell them anything for now."

Changmin’s first instinct as an alpha is to lay his claim and that means telling the entire world that Yunho is his, to love and to protect. In hindsight, he knows he’d been exhibiting those same overprotectiveness tendencies even before today but _now_, it feels as though he should be doing more. Instead of less. Yunho is right, though — they have no idea how their parents would react to finding out about this and playing it safe seems to be their only option for now, no matter how much he hates having to keep this a secret. It rankles at Changmin, at his alpha pride, but he knows he has to think of Yunho, first and foremost. Twining their fingers tighter, Changmin nods, grimly.

“We can wait.” His thumb brushes the back of Yunho’s hand, rubbing circles into the soft skin. He thinks about being legal in a couple more years, about going to university with Yunho and all the freedom that entails, and that nudges a smile onto Changmin’s face. “We’ll always be together anyway.”

Yunho ducks his head shyly, looking away from Changmin and trying to keep the blush from his cheeks, but he isn't able to — nor is he able to keep the smile from his lips. He just squeezes Changmin's hand silently, a gesture that Changmin reciprocates. They get home and find that the car isn’t in the driveway, and Changmin wastes no time in getting them into Yunho’s room. Since it’s the closest, which is important when he’s in a hurry to put his hands once again on the older boy. It’s like a free-for-all now — once he’s been given permission, he’s going to do it at any given opportunity. He tumbles Yunho into the bed, grinning widely at the flush of colours on Yunho’s cheeks as he crawls over him and starts pulling off his jacket.

Yunho tries to push Changmin off, the colours getting darker. “Changmin, we’re gonna get caught—”

“No one’s around.” He braces his elbows on either side of Yunho’s head and looks down at him. Their noses are inches apart and this close, he can see every single fleck of spark inside Yunho’s eyes. “I locked the door, it’s alright.”

"No," whines Yunho, but he can't help but wind his arms around Changmin's neck. He then lifts up his head to peck a kiss on the corner of Changmin's lips and then drops his head back down onto the bed again. And then covers his face with his palms, feeling the hot flush under his hands.

Changmin chases after Yunho’s lips, but ends up being deterred by the hands, much to his displeasure. Shifting his weight to one arm, he tries to pry those hands off Yunho’s face without much success. “Hyung~” He leans forward and nips at Yunho’s fingers. “That’s not fair!”

It was one thing to be kissing in the half-lit, absolute silence of the pool, but it's another to be doing it in the bright, familiar setting of Changmin's bedroom, their _home_, and shyness completely overwhelms Yunho. And yet, he lets out another giggle. "Okay, okay," he says, only has to take his hands off his face for a millisecond before Changmin enthusiastically connects his lips to Yunho's again. They eventually settle on a rhythm, with Changmin moving to lie on his side and pulling Yunho to him so that it’s easier for them to continue kissing — lazy and languid, taking their time to re-learn all those things they’ve known about each other during all these years. Yunho’s scent grows sweeter and sweeter, even more so when Changmin’s kisses start drifting from his mouth to his temple and cheek and neck.

Changmin breathes him in, tongue darting out to lick a stripe along the column of Yunho’s bared neck. He thinks about biting down, about leaving his mark on that stretch of perfect paleness, and worries his teeth over the shifting cords of muscles there. Soon. He’d be able to do that soon enough. “You’re my _mate_,” Changmin says, replacing his teeth with a press of his lips. He then surges upwards to lock eyes with Yunho, no longer as playful. “You know that, right? That you’re mine, and I’m yours?”

The warmth that had been bubbling up inside Yunho falters at those words — or rather, the finality and conviction of those words. _Mate_. Partners for life, to take care of each other and love each other until the end of time. There is nothing more that Yunho could wish for from Changmin and there is no reason for Yunho to doubt Changmin on that, except —

Yunho's eyes find the gauges on his wall that were made by the trail of Changmin's nails in his heat a couple of months ago.

Changmin wouldn't… would he…?

Yunho sits up and frowns, suddenly feeling a bit dizzy. Changmin looks at him curiously at the same time that he looks a bit disappointed. "Sorry," says Yunho, avoiding Changmin's eyes. "We… should eat dinner before our parents get home. They're going to wonder what we've been up to all this time."

“No, wait—” Changmin is quick to hold onto Yunho, sensing that something is wrong. He circles his fingers around Yunho’s wrist, not too tight but enough to anchor him down. “Why are you— Hyung, what’s wrong?”

"Wh — What do you want to eat for dinner? I think Umma said there’s food in the fridge," stutters Yunho, and he pulls his wrist out of Changmin's grip and stands on shaky legs. He can't look at the younger boy, he's just so _confused_. He doesn't want to doubt Changmin, but the fact is that he's an omega and Changmin's an alpha —

Yunho strides to the door and leaves the room, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve shakily. He feels the periphery of his vision becoming fuzzy and his breaths becoming shallow; he barely makes it to the bathroom and manages to close the door behind him before he loses strength in his legs and finds himself on the tiled floor of the bathroom.

Changmin is left staring, wide-eyed, as Yunho flees the room. It takes his brain a few seconds to catch up and he jumps out of bed post-haste, catching sight of the older boy disappearing into the bathroom. But the door is closed by the time he gets close and he stands there, trying to figure out what went wrong. Everything had been perfect right up until he mentioned— The colours drain from Changmin’s face instantly and he stares at the closed door, apprehension crawling down the length of his spine.

“Yunho-hyung?” Changmin raises a hand to knock on the door. Just a few soft raps, barely loud enough to be heard. “Are you okay?” Silence, deafening. He knocks again and rests his forehead against the door. “Please come out. Please talk to me.”

Yunho closes his eyes and leans his head back from where he's sitting with his knees in his arms, and bangs the back of his head softly against the wall.

_How _is he to know when an alpha is being genuine, truly in love, and how does he tell his true mate apart from another alpha who may only be pursuing him to claim him, to _own _him? How does he know how much of this is just Changmin's drive, his instinct, and how much of this is… _love_? And speaking of which— when did this even turn into anything? When did their feelings for each other as brothers begin to change, and why?

There's another knock on the door accompanied by Changmin's gentle, concerned call, and as Yunho takes another deep breath to try to calm himself, the next emotion that replaces the insecurity is guilt.

Guilt that he'd ever doubt Changmin. _His _Changmin.

His Changmin, who's always been his protector, friend, and ally — who would _never _hurt him. _Ever_.

He feels tears come to his eyes as he scrambles to his feet and opens the door as quickly as he can to reveal Changmin's face at the door — Changmin, his Changmin, who looks equal parts worried and devastated.

Yunho surges forward and takes the younger boy in his arms. His breaths are still uneven and the tears are falling now, but he keeps holding Changmin tight, and waits for Changmin to embrace him back. And when he does, it all feels right again.

"Let's... take this slow," whispers Yunho into the nape of Changmin's neck. "Really slow."

The sight of those tears makes Changmin’s heart ache, his chest going tight with equal parts worries and fear, as he tries to pinpoint what he’d done wrong. The exact moment he’d ruined this for both of them and he’s pretty sure he knows, even if the realisation feels like a hot knife sliding right through his ribcage — _Yunho doesn’t think Changmin would make a good mate_. His arms wind tighter around the older boy as he takes in the words, the way Yunho’s voice strain and shudder, threatening to break. There’s wetness against his neck, the hitching breaths that tell him Yunho is still crying and Changmin doesn’t let go. He just keeps holding him, measures each breath until they eventually settle into soft snuffling.

“Whatever you need,” he says, pulling back just enough to tilt his face and press a kiss to the side of Yunho’s head. He remembers all the promises he’d made, to Yunho and himself, and they remind him that he’s the one who has to live up to expectations. That he has no right to ask something as monumental as to be Yunho’s mate, when he can’t offer the older boy something better than just promises. He traces the curve of Yunho’s jaw with his fingers, thumb rubbing at the damp streak he finds there and, very gently, presses a kiss to the corner of Yunho’s mouth. “As long as I get to be with you.” Another kiss, this one more centred. A little bit more pressure. “Is that okay?”

Yunho presses himself closer to Changmin and rests his chin on the younger boy's shoulder. A little while later, he finds his voice. It comes out thick and cracked.

"Promise me you're doing this because you love me," Yunho murmurs. "Promise me you aren't going to abandon me after —" he swallows down the rest of the sentence. "Please tell me this isn't all just because I'm an omega."

There is only one answer that Changmin can give, Yunho knows that— but he wants to hear it, even if it may not be entirely true. He wants to hear it, and believe it.

It feels as though someone has just tipped a bucket of ice over his head, without warning. Changmin can’t even imagine why or how Yunho would even doubt Changmin’s feelings for him, that this might not be anything more than what their biology dictates. “Of course I love you!” he says, his voice going higher than intended. It’s laced with hurt, and disbelief. “I’ve loved you for years! Way before we found out—” Changmin cuts himself off, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “It has always been you, hyung. Just you.”

Yunho lets out a watery laugh and holds Changmin tighter. "Okay. That's all I want from you."

Knowing what Yunho is thinking used to be like knowing where his own arm is, an awareness so instinctive that Changmin used to not even properly register knowing it. But right now, he’s not sure if that is all Yunho meant. If Yunho is completely over his half-breakdown earlier. There’s a mirror hanging on the wall of the bathroom, right across from where they’re standing, and Changmin can see how they look together. He thinks, _we’re a perfect fit, two halves of the same whole_. And he plans to keep it that way.

“You don’t even have to ask.” Changmin carefully pulls away, but he keeps his hands a loose circle around Yunho’s waist. Those eyes are still red, a little bit puffy and he hates seeing Yunho like this. He summons a small grin to his face, attempting to lighten things up. “Should we order pizza for dinner? Or fried chicken? And call this our first official date?” Changmin makes a thoughtful noise, lips pursed. “I should properly wine and dine you, right?”

Yunho laughs again through his tears and shakes his head. "There's no need." He sniffles one last time and looks into Changmin's eyes again shyly. "I'm sorry for all of this. I didn't mean that I want you to treat me like a princess."

“Come on, I can do this right. Trust me.” And as if to make that point, Changmin bends down and hooks an arm against the back of Yunho’s knees. Before lifting him in a bridal carry. It should’ve been one smooth movement, just like in the movies, but he doesn’t take into account that Yunho isn’t exactly dainty and is almost as tall as he is. Changmin staggers for a bit, biting back a surprised huff as he clutches Yunho tighter just so he doesn’t drop the older boy. “Oh shit— You’re… heavier than I expected—”

A laughter escapes Yunho’s lungs, surprising even him. He feels Changmin’s arms shaking under his weight, and he kicks his legs. “Changmin, I know how to walk! Let me down, we’re both going to fall.”

“Stop moving!” Changmin almost lost his grip when Yunho starts squirming around and he has to pinch the nearest patch of skin he can find as a warning. Glaring down at Yunho’s grin, he says, completely seriously, “Put your arms around my neck. And then stop moving. Don’t even breathe. If we fall down the stairs, it’s going to be your fault.”

“Why do we have to do this,” says Yunho, exasperated but amused at the same time. He does as he’s told, and wraps his arms around Changmin’s neck and puts as much weight there as he can so that some of the weight can come off from Changin’s arms. Although he’s still not sure what Changmin’s trying to prove. “I really don’t think this is a good idea,” breathes Yunho anxiously as Changmin slowly approaches the stairs, grunting with each step.

It’s hard enough to concentrate on moving one foot in front of the other without Yunho’s warm breath tickling the side of his neck, the uncertainty in Yunho’s voice doing extra damage to Changmin’s confidence in seeing this whole romantic gesture through. That’s what it’s supposed to be anyway: _romantic_. But Changmin’s arms are burning from the strain and his shoulders are threatening to pop out of their sockets, that’s what it feels like. This is much, _much_harder than doing laps around the pool. The stairs loom before them, looking very steep all of a sudden, and Changmin hesitates. It’s not like he doesn’t trust himself but—

—those stairs look dangerous.

His grin is a bit wobbly when he looks at Yunho. “A kiss for good luck?”

Yunho’s not sure if that’s a good idea — to depend on luck for whether or not they’re both going to crack their heads open — but he squeezes his eyes shut and changes the angle of his head just enough that he can give Changmin another kiss on the corner of his lips, where he’s clenching his teeth with determination. “Please don’t kill us both,” says Yunho, and tightens his grip around Changmin’s neck ever so slightly.

If he isn’t busy trying to keep upright, Changmin would’ve been offended by Yunho’s request and the apparent lack of faith in his ability to get them both downstairs in one piece. Two pieces. Whichever. He repositions the arm supporting Yunho’s back, going higher as Yunho clings to him, and keeps close to the banister for the first few steps. He’s more worried about misstepping and breaking their necks in the aftermath, which leads to him taking an excruciating amount of time for each step. By the time they reach the bottom of the stairs, Changmin can’t even feel his arms anymore. Not that it matters because he did it! Yunho has hidden his face in Changmin’s shoulder, his eyelashes tickling Changmin’s skin and it’s a strange, distracting contrast to the soft warmth of his lips.

Changmin’s thinking of asking for another kiss, but his triumph is short-lived when somewhere from the entryway, he hears Jihye’s voice going,

“Why are you carrying Yunho-oppa like _that?_”

Yunho is so surprised that he actually lets out a yell, and finally squirms out of Changmin’s arms. “What? What are you talking about?” he says as his feet touch the ground. “What do you mean, he was —”

Even though they were in plain sight a minute ago. _How _did they not hear the front door opening?

Changmin drops his arms to the sides, jiggling them slightly to ease the burn from the physical exertion they just went through. It also helps him to look unperturbed at being caught in the act of trying to impress Yunho with his physical prowess, even though he can’t stop his ears from turning red. He doesn’t like that sly grin uncurling across Jihye’s face, at all. “Hyung hurt his leg today. I was just helping him going down the stairs.”

Jihye raises an eyebrow. “Which leg?” When Changmin says ‘_right_’ at the same time that Yunho blurts out ‘_left!_’, her grin gets sharper. Changmin likes that even less. “You’re both dumbasses, you know that, right?”

“My left. His right,” persists Yunho, still a beat behind, but Jihye rolls her eyes.

“Dumbasses,” she repeats, using the tone of voice one normally reserves for a very dumb pet. Jihye kicks off her shoes as he says, “Umma and Appa are outside talking to Mrs. Yoon, so if you want to play damsel in distress again, you’ve got about five minutes.”

“We weren’t playing damsel in distress, it’s part of Changmin’s new workout routine for swimming,” defends Yunho. This is probably the better excuse to give. He’s actually almost proud of himself for thinking of this one.

Changmin scrubs a hand over his face when Jihye starts cackling, and feels only marginally better about being caught by their sister when he sees the adorable look of confusion on Yunho’s face as Jihye’s cackling peters off into actual wheezing.

.

**tbc**

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	11. Chapter 11

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Yunho grunts as he drops the pen he’s been marking his practice test with and tilts his head back in frustration. He’s been making one mistake on almost every math practice test he’s done so far — mistakes he can’t afford to make when he has to do well enough to be able to go to one of the top universities in the country. Which he has to go to, because Changmin’s already been accepted a year ago, on a scholarship. _Especially _when the exam is less than three months away. And when he’ll be losing a week of studying somewhere in there for his heat, which is unpredictable and will be coming any time now.

He stopped taking his suppressants about three months ago, so that he can get one cycle in before his Collegiate Scholastic Ability Test, and have plenty of time not to be anxious. But his exam is fast approaching and his heat still hasn’t come. He met with Dr. Kim earlier in the week, and he reassured Yunho, saying, “The heat will come soon. Any time now. Don’t be anxious and just wait for it.” When Yunho brought up his concern about the exam approaching, he said, “Don’t worry. If you still haven’t had it two months before the exam, we’ll just get you back on suppressants. It won’t be the end of the world. But I want you to go through with the heat if at all possible, because you’ve been on suppressants for far too long and your hormones need some resetting.”

Yunho goes over the question he got wrong again, double checking his mistakes, writing it down, and solving it correctly again twice. He looks at the questions he’d marked as unsure but he ended up getting right, and then solves those questions again too. And then he finally gets up from his desk for his 10-minute break.

The stretch his limbs get is golden.

Even day for the past year has been gruelling — when he gets home from school, he hurries into the shower before sitting down at his desk to study until dinner, then after dinner, he studies until just after midnight, taking just two breaks in between. The weekends have been the same; he gets up at six in the morning and after a quick breakfast on his own, starts studying, and besides the time he takes to eat his meals, he’s at his desk. He’s even put his teaching duties at the community centre and all of his other extracurricular activities, including the dance crew, on hold.

His practice test scores improved dramatically for the first few months after he started on this routine, and it was rewarding to see them improve so much; but as they got to a certain score, it took an exponentially higher amount of effort to raise his scores even by a few points, and it’s been harder than he expected to continue through like this. He knows he’s going to burn out if he does this for any longer than what he’s planned, but the only reason why he’s able to press on is that there is a definite end date; an end date after which he will _never have to do this again _so long as he does this _right _the first time.

So even today, even on this beautiful, clear, sunny Saturday afternoon, Yunho coops himself up in his room with his books.

All so he can go to the same university as Changmin.

As he stumbles across his room (his butt is numb from sitting for so damn long) and opens the door, he’s barrelled into by the giant grey wolf that has evidently been waiting there, just waiting for Yunho to come out.

"_Hyung~!_" Changmin raises his front paws to Yunho's chest so he can nuzzle the older boy, his whine half-muffled into Yunho's shoulder. He'd almost bowled Yunho over in his enthusiasm at finally seeing the older boy emerge from the depth of the room, but Yunho steadies them and Changmin licks at the laughing curve of Yunho's mouth. "_Are you done? You're done, right?_"

"For ten minutes," nods Yunho. He returns the kiss. Just as he's thinking that kissing is better when they're both human, Changmin shifts, and they're both standing now, with their arms around each other.

Changmin slips his hands into the back pockets of Yunho's jeans, drawing him in closer. "I missed you," he pouts. "Can't you take a break already? We can go out and get ice cream?"

Changmin's the devil, seriously. Save us from temptation.

"I'm _on _my break. I've got another nine minutes. We don't have time for ice cream."

"Yeah, we do," Changmin mutters petulantly. He presses a kiss to Yunho's cheek, then his nose. "C'mon. You should get some fresh air, you've been inside too long. Once we get back, I'll help you study. Please?"

"You can't help me anymore, and you know that," sighs Yunho. It's all about the repetition and the practice now. It's about who can stay sitting at their desk the longest, and who can do as many problems as they can. He looks down at Changmin's eyes, and he's making_the most terrible puppy eyes_, and Yunho laughs. "Okay. Fine. Just one ice cream, and we come right back." Maybe Yunho can make up for it by taking a shorter dinner break later.

Changmin's nose wrinkles, but he knows Yunho is right. The CSAT's just around the corner and Yunho had made his determination to get into the same university as Changmin pretty clear from the outset. Although that just means he's had to work harder than he ever did, which leads to them spending less time together. Changmin cups Yunho's face and kisses him slowly, languorously. Stealing a few more minutes for just the two of them.

"Bingsu." Changmin nips at Yunho's bottom lip. His hands are still on Yunho's ass and he squeezes them, grinning wildly. "There's a new place I wanted to try."

"Is it far?" asks Yunho a bit weakly. "I don't wanna go if it's too far."

Having Yunho in his arms, all dazed and warm, is giving Changmin second thoughts about going out. He nuzzles Yunho's neck, mouthing at the stretch of soft skin there. "Or—" His voice drops into a low rumble, picking up his favourite sweet scent. "We can just stay in. And lock the door."

Yunho responds to that by pulling Changmin into his room all the way and closing the door by pushing on it with his palm. Changmin's hand searches for the doorknob and locks it at the same time that they wrap their arms around each other again and connect their lips. Kissing Yunho feels like a revelation, every single time. Doesn’t matter how often they do it, it leaves Changmin wanting more. Yunho’s lips are soft, sometimes dry when he doesn’t remember to drink enough water or wear chapstick, but always, _always _they part so sweetly against Changmin’s. He tucks his fingers into the dark hair at the back of Yunho’s head, deepening the kiss and walking the older boy backwards towards the table. Changmin has to blindly push the books to the side, hears something clatter onto the floor but he’s too focused on hefting Yunho onto the table to care.

Yunho’s hands clutches Changmin’s shoulders and Changmin squeezes his way into the vee of Yunho’s parted thighs, never once breaking the kiss. He toys with Yunho’s shirt, fingers crawling up the soft skin of Yunho’s belly and setting off goosebumps in their wake.

“Take this off,” Changmin murmurs, eyes dark as he eyes the spit-slick redness of Yunho’s mouth hungrily.

Yunho obediently lifts his arms up so that Changmin can reach down and peel Yunho’s shirt off over his head. The cool breeze that hits his torso is ever so slightly chilling, but his cheeks flush warmly — and he tugs at Changmin’s shirt. “You too.”

Changmin grins, heeding the order without wasting any time. He tosses the shirt over his shoulder and goes to brace himself against the desk, dipping his head to leisurely kiss Yunho. Who makes a quiet, contented noise, wrapping his legs around Changmin’s waist. His own hands roam over the generous expanse of bare skin pressing up to him. Changmin is hard everywhere, corded muscles tight and enticing after years of rigorous swimming. Changmin’s mouth, however, is as soft as velvet as he trails feather-light kisses along the line of Yunho’s jaw, before going back to tug harder at Yunho’s bottom lip. And then licking into Yunho’s mouth with the intent to mark, as if he wants the entire world to know. _Shim Changmin was here_, like a belligerent vandal.

Yunho’s scent gets sweeter and thicker, like he’s coated in honey, and Changmin wants to lick him all over. He noses at Yunho’s neck, at the veins pulsing underneath paper-thin skin. “You smell delicious,” he says, licking a wet stripe towards Yunho’s ear. The wolf inside him rumbles. “Are you— Your heat—?” 

Yunho pulls himself away abruptly. “What? You smell something?”

“No? Nothing bad.” Changmin hates that he’s not kissing Yunho anymore and aims to rectify that situation by clutching Yunho’s face, bringing him close again. “I’m probably wrong anyway. You’re taking your suppressants, right?”

“No, I stopped taking them like, three months ago,” replies Yunho. He widens his eyes and grips Changmin’s shoulders. “You really smell a heat coming on?”

Changmin licks his lips, brows creasing into a frown now. He didn’t even realise Yunho wasn’t on suppressants anymore and the reminder of what nearly happened during Yunho’s first heat made him take a half-step back. “I— don’t know?” His hands rest on Yunho’s thighs, gripping them tight. “Do you feel any different? Why did you stop taking your meds?”

“So my hormones can reset or something, Dr. Kim told me to stop taking it,” says Yunho, feeling relieved more than anything. He jumps off the desk and grabs his T-shirt. “I’m going to go ask Appa if he can smell something too. Thank _God _the heat’s _finally _here —”

It’s pure reflex that makes Changmin reach out, an arm curling around Yunho’s waist to stop him from going any further. Yunho tries to turn around, a protest at the tip of his tongue, but Changmin hauls the older boy tight against him and keeps him trapped still. He presses a wet, open-mouthed kiss to the back of Yunho’s neck and his other arm snakes over Yunho’s chest. “That can wait,” he breathes, warm breath tickling Yunho’s ear. “Don’t go.”

“Are you sure you want me to go into heat while we’re half naked?” snorts Yunho. He glances at the clock. “I remember last time, it took like, six hours or something for me to fully get into it. You should hurry up and see if the Chois will take you again.”

Changmin buries his nose into Yunho’s shoulder and inhales deeply. “You smell different from that night,” he whines, tightening his hold on Yunho. Yunho going into heat means that he’ll be banished again, relegated to sleeping in Minho’s room and not seeing Yunho for too many days. It’s enough to make a guy cry. “Not as… ripe? I don’t know how to explain it, but I don’t think you’re getting your heat today.”

Yunho just looks at Changmin skeptically. Not that Yunho doesn’t believe him, but he knows that he’s put Changmin through the wringer for the past little while, spending less time together than they ever have. _Ever. _And Changmin has been pouncing on every little opportunity to spend time with Yunho, and to be fair, Yunho has too; so he can’t blame Changmin for not wanting to leave until they’re _absolutely _sure. It’s easier for Yunho to say, because he knows he won’t be able to remember most of his heat. “Appa will be able to tell us if I smell like I’m going into heat. Honestly, I’ve been waiting for so long for this. Thank God it’s not gonna overlap with my exams.” He manages to get enough space between himself and Changmin for him to actually put his shirt back on.

Changmin knows defeat when it’s staring at him with eyebrows raised, arms crossed defiantly. In hindsight, he regrets ever saying anything about Yunho’s scent since he’d pretty much cockblocked himself and he knows how little time he actually has with Yunho. But it’s not the time to complain, because the CSAT sits on a higher rung of priority right now. And if Yunho does get his heat early, that’s one less thing to worry about. Turning around to find his t-shirt, Changmin pulls it on and sighs.

He pouts at Yunho. “One last kiss before you go?”

Yunho smiles and leans in. Changmin hurriedly tries to close the distance, but Yunho pulls back just before their lips meet. “I’m sorry for all this. But if we just get through the next three months, we’ll be able to spend the next four years together.” And then looking at Changmin’s face turn into something a little more appeased, laughs and leans forward again for that kiss.

Changmin would like nothing more than to drag the kiss out, but he knows that he’s already taking too much of Yunho’s time as it is. He drags his fingers through Yunho’s hair, patting it in place and drops another kiss on Yunho’s forehead. Right before he shifts onto all four, tails wagging languidly behind him as he levels golden eyes at Yunho. His wolf’s nose is much more sensitive and he picks up Yunho’s scent easily — he _is _close, Changmin decides. He sniffs at Yunho’s hand and then butts his muzzle against it. “_Do you think I have to leave today? I hate being separated from you..._”

Yunho hesitates. “I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be different this time since you’re on your suppressants. I don’t know what would happen if we just… both stayed.”

It’s a gamble, when it comes down to it. Changmin hasn’t fully forgiven himself for his reaction to Yunho’s heat, never mind how many times Yunho (and even his parents) told him that it’s not his fault. He’d learnt about how strongly alphas react to omegas in heat during one of their mandatory Biology classes, but it isn’t until Yunho that he fully understands the extent of that reaction. Yunho had been diligently taking his suppressants and neither of them have had to worry about his ruts — Changmin is even more religious when it comes to his own medications.

“_We can try and ask Umma?_” Changmin turns his face away, padding silently to the door. “_I don’t want to hurt you again_.”

Yunho nods. He doesn't remember what happened, and he's forgiven Changmin's reaction a million times over, but he knows he should be trying to keep himself as safe as he can during his heats, and he wouldn't want Changmin to feel like he's done something wrong. "Sounds like a good idea. Let's ask her."

Changmin waits at the door dejectedly, evidently for Yunho to turn the doorknob. But before Yunho opens the door, he taps Changmin and motions for him to turn so that they're facing each other. "You _didn't _hurt me before. And I'm grateful."

The reassurance pulls a smile across Changmin’s face. Although he’s never had a reason to doubt Yunho’s words, it’s hard to reconcile the guilt he’d carried since then. Changmin nudges his face against Yunho’s and licks at his mouth, before turning to lope downstairs. Mihyun is at the kitchen table, laughing at something Yanghyun had just said, while they make an assortment of kimchi together. They haven’t been going out during weekends much anymore, especially since Yunho is focusing on his exams and they would rather not leave him behind on his own. The sound of screaming coming from the living room tells him that Jihye’s watching another variety show. Changmin pads towards his parents and shifts, grinning at Yanghyun when he catches his eyes.

“Your brother’s still studying?”

Changmin picks up a chunk of radish and pops it into his mouth before his mother can slap his hand away. “Yeah, but he’s taking a break,” he says, in between crunches. “What’re we having for lunch? I’m _starving_.”

"You can help, if you're not doing anything useful. We're having fish cakes with the new batch of kimchi," says Mihyun, pointing at the chair across the table from her. She smiles as she sees that Changmin looks somewhat underwhelmed. "We'll have crab for dinner, though."

“Crab!” Changmin exclaims, face lighting up instantly at the prospect of his mother’s spicy crab stew. He heads to the fridge to take out the fish cakes. “Oh yeah, hyung wanted to ask—”

Yunho comes walking down the stairs and shuffles across the living room to join his parents. And as soon as he gets to the table, Yanghyun's head snaps up towards him, eyes widening.

“Yunho—” There’s an expression not unlike one would get during constipation plastered all over Yanghyun’s face. His hands are half-raised, holding half a cabbage covered in the red mixture of salt and chili flakes. “You’re going into heat, aren’t you?”

Yunho looks at Changmin and shrugs. "I guess Appa thinks so too."

The packet of fish cakes crinkles unhappily in Changmin’s hand. He looks at his mother, mouth downturned. “Do I have to go?”

Mihyun raises her eyebrows. "Yunho's going into heat?"

Yanghyun nods. “Soon.” His head swivels to where Changmin’s standing and it’s clear to see how upset the younger boy is. _Probably thinks he’s missing out on those crabs. _“Don’t worry, you don’t have to go before dinner.”

Changmin exchanges a look with Yunho, before squaring his shoulders. He’s looking at Mihyun when he asks, “Can I— Do you think it’s okay if I stay this time? I’ve been taking my suppressants and… and maybe I can double the dose during hyung’s heat?”

Mihyun remembers the mess that the last heat was. She's aware that the circumstances are different this time — thinking back, she's a bit appalled at just how many things went _wrong _that night — but she doesn't want to take the chance on anything even _close _happening again. "We shouldn't mess with your medications ourselves, Changmin. We can bring this up to Dr. Kim next time. This time, I'll call the Chois again."

Their mother isn’t wrong — it’s better to take the safest route and have Changmin out of the house before the arrival of Yunho’s heat, instead of risking an encore of that horrible night. It’s just that the thought of being separated from Yunho is much worse now than ever. The urge to stay claws at him, the wolf inside demanding to stay close to one he’d claimed as his own. But Yunho’s safety is paramount and he isn’t about to argue with that. “I understand, Umma,” Changmin says, his voice small. A week away from Yunho is an absolute torture and he doesn’t even know how he’s going to survive going through that again. Placing the fish cakes on the table, Changmin gives his parents a wry smile. “I guess I should start packing.”

Mihyun nods and gives Changmin an encouraging smile. She knows he must be devastated to be separated from Yunho — she noticed a shift in their relationship a while back, though they haven't admitted it. She watches Changmin turn and walk back up the stairs, shoulders slumped. She turns to her mate to comment, but Yanghyun is looking at her sadly too. "The poor boy was so excited about the crab," he says.

Mihyun stares at her mate, who stares back, looking bemused — she gets that he can be slow sometimes at things like this (she remembers it took him almost a month to figure out that they were even dating), but is he _really _that clueless? She considers telling him what Changmin's probably _actually _thinking, but decides against it and just gets up instead. She's almost curious how long it's going to take for her mate to finally _get it_. "I should call the Chois."

.

Changmin pokes moodily at the rice-packed crab shell inside his bowl with his chopsticks, allowing the conversation around the table to wash over him without actually listening. He’s still more than just a little miserable at the thought of leaving the house, leaving _Yunho _and it substantially takes away his excitement over the simmering stew. Any other day and he would’ve been the first to ask for seconds, but his appetite has apparently decided to take a hike along with his good moods. Another worried glance from Yunho makes him shove some rice into his mouth and he chews slowly, trying not to think about the bag he’d packed earlier. Yunho had spent the rest of the afternoon with Changmin in his room, chattering on about how a week is nothing, that time would pass so quickly neither of them would notice. Considering Yunho would spend the first couple days of his heat delirious and the rest in some kind of half-aware state, Changmin doubts the older boy understands how that very same week would feel to Changmin.

And the questions he’d get from their classmates—

Maybe he should also skip school. Just hole up in Minho’s room, counting down the hours until he can go home again.

There’s suddenly half a crab in his bowl and he looks up to see Yanghyun smiling at him. “Eat up, son. There’s plenty more where that comes from.” He turns to his eldest. “You too, Yunho. You’re gonna need the energy for—” Yanghyun trails off, face shifting through several expressions in a span of two seconds, before punctuating the sentence with an overly bright, “—_things!_”

Yunho's kind of horrified, and he looks up to see his mother making an absolutely pained face. He looks from his mother's face to his father's cheerful one, and he thinks this is all kind of ridiculous — or hilarious, one of the two. He looks at Changmin to share a look, but Changmin's looking all sorts of miserable and somber. 

“I’m not really hungry,” Changmin mutters, picking at the crab meat and mixing it with the rice absently.

Yunho places his hand on Changmin’s thigh under the table to soothe him. “Come on, Changmin. You love crab.” When it doesn’t look like Changmin’s going to be eating, Yunho picks the meat from the crab in his own bowl and then with his chopsticks, holds it up to Changmin’s mouth.

Changmin blinks at the proffered food and feels his ears getting warm, eyes flickering to Yunho’s face. He leans forward and closes his mouth around the meat, his teeth tugging at the tip of the chopsticks when he’s pulling back. He’s still staring at Yunho when he licks his lips slowly and would’ve said something embarrassing (like _I love you _or _can I kiss you again_) if it isn’t for Jihye’s loud giggling. Changmin snaps his neck towards her. “_What?_”

“You guys are so gross,” she says. There’s a knowing twinkle in her eyes and Changmin feels his stomach lurch, his ears even warmer. “Yunho-oppa’s only getting his heat. It’s not like he’s going off to war.”

“Jihye, just eat your crab,” says Yunho, narrowing his eyes. He picks up his glass of water and drinks the whole thing down. He’s feeling warm all over, but he’s not sure if it’s because of Jihye or because of the heat.

She rolls her eyes, unphased by the reprimand. It’s not as if she doesn’t know what’s going on between her brothers — there’s a tangible shift in their relationship ever since Yunho presented. And following the subsequent month of strife that ended when her oldest brother was suspended, they’ve been even more obvious with their mutual attraction. Jihye doesn’t understand why they’re still trying to keep it a secret, when even a blind person can tell that those two are meant for each other.

Talking about a blind person—

Yanghyun shakes his head at her, clicking his tongue. “Don’t tease your brothers, Jihye. Going into a- a heat is not an easy experience and I’m sure Changmin is worried about Yunho, as we all are. In times like this, we should be supportive and stand together—”

Mihyun places a hand on his shoulder, cutting the enthusiastic tirade short. “Honey.”

Yanghyun beams at her. “Yes, dear?”

“Can you please get us some iced tea? It’s inside the fridge.” She bestows him a beatific smile as he scrapes his chair back, going for the fridge, tirade forgotten. Mihyun levels her children an exasperated look. “Just eat your food. All of you.”

Yunho turns his attention to his stew again, but as he does, his vision shakes a bit, and he has to blink to focus on it properly. He lets out a hot breath, and he bites his lower lip. He really just wants to get through dinner.

But as time goes on, he can’t even taste what he’s eating — and he’s becoming increasingly aware of Changmin, who’s sitting next to him. _Close_. Really close. So close, and in just moments, there’s nothing on his mind except Changmin. He doesn’t even notice his spoon slipping out of his hand onto the table as he raises his head to look at the younger boy with his unfocused eyes. Sweat has started to break out and his heart’s beating out of his chest, and in that moment, when his wolf is urging him to _just pull him closer, kiss him, touch him, make him touch you, _he knows; a minute more, and he won’t be thinking straight.

Changmin doesn’t realise it at first, too busy trying to look like he’s listening to Yanghyun’s story about a new intern in the office, but the loud clinking of Yunho’s spoon hitting the bowl on its way down makes him glance at the older boy. And he immediately stiffens when the smell hits him — that same sweet, cloying scent that had nearly become his undoing once before. Changmin would’ve recognised it in a heartbeat. Yunho’s eyes are glazed over when they find Changmin’s, lips parted ever so slightly like an invitation, and Changmin can almost hear the thundering of Yunho’s heart in the space between them. He finds an answering call in his own veins, regardless of his suppressants. It’s _bad_, how instantly his hunger _for Yunho _gnaws at the lining of his stomach and it takes the entirety of his self control to not reach out. To gather Yunho in his arms and carry him upstairs, away from everyone else.

So Changmin can mark him up with his hands and mouth and sink into Yunho’s silken heat—

Yanghyun’s voice is razor-sharp when he says, “_Yunho_.”

Yunho rips his gaze away from Changmin and clenches his eyes shut. Every fibre of his body protests, and all he wants to do is just let him have him — but the thread of sanity he’s still holding onto tugs him back and gives him the strength to get up from the table. “I… I have to go upstairs.” It takes everything he has to make himself to stumble back a few steps away from the table — a far enough distance — before he turns to address Changmin. “See you later.”

Changmin doesn’t even dare to look back at Yunho, doesn’t trust himself to not go after the older boy if he does so. “Be safe,” he manages to say, each word dragged out through his teeth. It’s foolish to think that he could’ve stayed and not be affected. A few minutes longer and he wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off of Yunho, just like before. Would’ve hurt him all over again. Changmin sees Mihyun looking at him, concern carved into her expression and he offers her a half-smile. “I should get going as well.”

"Yes. Why don't you take some of the food for the Chois as well. We're very appreciative of all their help," she says, and trying not to show her surprise at the close call, gets up. She addresses Jihye, who's frozen too, her earlier joviality gone. "Finish your meal, Jihye. Everything's fine. And Yanghyun, maybe you could help us load Changmin's bags into the car."

Yanghyun’s answering nod is quick and he pats Jihye’s head on his way out of the kitchen, an offer of comfort. Changmin goes to help his mother pack up the crab stew and it serves as a distraction from thinking about Yunho, even though the blood inside his veins still ripples with the primitive urge to be with his omega. It’s a physical pain to be made to leave, when he _knows _his place is with Yunho. But he has no choice in the matter. Yanghyun comes down with his bags and Changmin takes them from him, following the older alpha to the car. He’s quiet as they load the trunk and once it’s closed, Yanghyun turns to him.

“He’s going to be fine. You’ll come home before you know it.” Yanghyun’s mouth quirks into a smile. It’s not much of a reassurance, but Changmin will take what he can get. “I’ll send an email to Mr. Cheon to explain Yunho’s absence.”

Changmin sighs and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He lifts his head to look at Yunho’s window and feels a lump forming in his throat when he sees Yunho staring down at him. The older boy’s face looks wretched, close to tears, and Changmin wants nothing more than to run upstairs to him. Which is what he almost did, if not for Yanghyun’s hand on his shoulder. Changmin raises a hand to wave at Yunho instead, clenching his jaw so hard he can hear his molars grinding in protest. Yunho waves at him in return, before placing his palm against the window. When Changmin hears the car engine going and he’s sure that Yanghyun’s inside, he mouths ‘_I love you_’ at Yunho. Even does the finger heart gesture with both hands in case Yunho doesn’t catch it.

He sees a smile cross Yunho’s face and his chest gets a bit lighter.

“Let’s go before it gets too late,” Yanghyun calls out, poking his head out. “Did you forget anything?”

Changmin quickly lowers his hands and says, “No!” He gives Yunho one last wave before he slips into the passenger seat, taking out his phone as Yanghyun steers the car out of the driveway.

_This sucks_, he types and adds a crying emoji to punctuate that sentence. _I can’t wait until we get to spend your heat together._

And hits ‘send’ to Yunho, already dreading the days to come.

Yunho's shaking with need already when he gets the text from Changmin, and he's barely able to reach for his phone to read the messages. And his wolf cries out for his alpha, for Changmin, and he feels tears of desperation come to him as he gathers enough coherence to type back: _Come back_.

When Changmin sees those two words, he nearly asked Yanghyun to turn around. Or just pop the lock so he can run back to Yunho. His fingers curl around his phone as he reads the words over and over again, helplessness leaving a bitter taste at the back of his throat the further away they get from the house. His human brain understands why he _can’t_, but his instincts scream at him that his omega, his _mate _needs him right now. And that he’s a terrible alpha for not being there for Yunho. His hand shakes when he types out his reply, thumb slipping over different hangul more than once in his haste.

_You have no idea how badly I want to but I can’t. I’m so so sorry. Please be strong, hyung. I love you. I love you. I love you. _

Yunho drops his phone and starts sobbing when he gets the reply; all he wants is Changmin, here, now — why won't he come?

His bangs are stuck to his forehead and his eyes are red as he stumbles across his room to the door. His hand claws at the doorknob and it seems to take a lifetime to turn it and walk out on shaky legs. He has to bring Changmin back, _now_—

Mihyun’s bringing Yunho a glass of cold water when she sees her son lurching out of the room, one hand clasping the doorknob to keep him upright. “Yunho?” She quickens her pace, concern creasing her expression. “Where are you going?”

Yunho’s breathing out quick, hot breaths as he looks right past her to where he needs to go — closer to Changmin — and his voice is scratchy and rough as he coughs out, “_Changmin_.”

A new, strange worry settles in the pit of Mihyun’s stomach at the way Yunho calls out for the younger boy. She puts the glass on one of the floating shelves living the wall, doesn’t even look to see if she’d knocked any frame askew in her haste to get to Yunho. He’s too warm to the touch, like he’s running a fever, and her grip on his forearm slip-slides from how much he’s sweating. “Changmin isn’t here, sweetheart,” she says, trying to get him to focus on her. She cards her fingers through his sweat-matted hair, pushing those strands back from his forehead. A part of her wonders if her boys had actually _mated_, for Yunho to be this desperate to get to Changmin. But a louder voice in her head reminds Mihyun that they would’ve known better. She doesn’t raise idiots in this household. “Come on, let’s get you back in the room. You’ll feel much better when you’re lying down.”

He doesn’t have enough strength to fight her as she guides him back to his room, and he’s so _desperate _that he can barely even think straight. He needs Changmin here, to run his hands across Yunho’s skin, to kiss him, to _take _him. He doesn’t even realize it when he’s back in his room and has been placed on the bed. He curls up and moans and whines, just wants Changmin back — but the last coherent thought leaves his head, and he just grips his sheets, having no choice but to allow the heat to take over his being.

Watching Yunho be so delirious from his heat that he’s not even responding to anything Mihyun says is a heartbreaking sight. Never had she wished so badly that her son is a beta, if only to spare him this pain. While being an omega has its blessings, it also comes with such a heavy toll that Yunho would have to pay over and over again, and no mother wants to see their children suffer. Mihyun stays at Yunho’s bedside for a while, stroking his forehead and murmuring soothing nothings as he tosses and turns, but eventually she knows she has to leave. He wouldn’t have wanted her to stay and see him ride his heat through, especially the worst of it. Once his moans get louder and wetter, his hand drifting to the drawstring of his sweats, Mihyun knows her time has run out. She swipes at the tears that are streaking down his cheek, not that he notices it, and prays that he wouldn’t hurt himself.

The door closes with a click. Mihyun stands there in the hallway, taking measured breaths to stop herself from crying. She can’t even begin to imagine how Changmin had survived Yunho’s first heat, if it’s that intense. And him being such a young alpha, at a time when hormones and instincts could’ve easily eclipsed any rational thought. How strong he must’ve been to resist his biology, just so he wouldn’t hurt Yunho.

Mihyun exhales slowly and brings the back of a hand over her eyes, wiping away the wetness there. 

They’ll be _fine_. They have each other, after all.

.

**tbc**

.


	12. Chapter 12

.

It’s like the worst kind of deja vu.

Changmin glares at his Korean Language homework, the tip of his pen hovering over the space where his next sentence is supposed to be. He’d lost his train of thought when his mind very helpfully reminds him of how Yunho would usually peer over his shoulder to look at his essay, grinning his usual wide, jubilant grins. But Yunho isn’t here. His absence festers inside Changmin like an open wound, constantly bleeding out to pool in the cavity of his chest. It’s only been two days and he’s beyond miserable, functioning on autopilot alone. Minho’s family is gracious and understanding enough that they don’t push him to talk, but it’s being in school that’s stretching his patience to the limit.

It’s a testament to how popular Yunho is with the general population that not a few hours go by without someone asking Changmin where the older boy is. He’s so tired of repeating the same thing over and over again that he’d taken to glowering at anyone who looks like they’re about to approach him. It works until about lunch break, when none other than Han Jiwook approaches his table like the swaggering asshole that he is. The other alpha is in full-on leering mode, arms-crossed and looking down at Changmin with a condescending tilt to his smirk. Changmin doesn’t know what the hell he wants, because it’s been made clear by the principal and both of their fathers that all three of them — Yunho, Changmin and Jiwook — are to keep their distance from each other.

That had been one tenuous meeting between the families.

Five minutes in and Changmin could see where Jiwook got his shitty attitude from. Han Senior started blaming Yunho for coming onto his son, which led to Yanghyun stiffly warning him off and reminding him that his family is new to the area. And that he’s making an enemy out of a more established pack member, which is never wise.

Han Senior had backed down after that, but it’s obvious he didn’t consider the matter to be resolved.

And now Changmin has to deal with this asshole all over again.

“Where’s that bitch of yours?”

Changmin’s pen creaks when he grips it too hard and he has to physically stop himself from acknowledging Jiwook, keeping his eyes stubbornly on his workbook. His day is progressing from bad to utter shithouse. 

“Oi, you deaf?” Jiwook places one hand on the edge of Changmin’s table, leaning over him. He jars the table, making Changmin snap a wonky line across the page. “I said: where the fuck’s your bitch at?”

Changmin throws the pen onto his table, rising to his full height as blood starts pounding in his ears. He has about a head over Jiwook and feels a surge of satisfaction when he sees a flicker of uncertainty in the other boy’s eyes, despite his stupid bravado. He lowers his voice, mindful that they’re still in class and they’re not alone. “If you call him a bitch one more time, I’m going to punch you so hard, you’d be shitting your own teeth later.”

Jiwook bristles, fingers already balled into fists. A few girls nearby look at them in alarm — they’d make good witness if Jiwook decides to get physical. Changmin is also itching for a fight now, pent-up tension running like livewires under his skin. “You fucking—”

Faint vibrations inside the pocket of his pants distract Changmin from his very meticulous plan in carrying out the threat and he knows that no one would call him at school, except if it’s an emergency. His heart plummets in record time and he shoves Jiwook aside so he can go someplace quieter, already slipping out his phone to see Yunho’s name flashing on the screen.

“Hyung?” The staircase is too close to his classroom, but it’s deserted and Changmin’s much too worried to think of another place to take the call. “What is it? Are you alright?” 

"Miss you," whines Yunho without introduction from the other end. "I want you here."

Changmin lets out the breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding when it’s clear there’s nothing wrong with Yunho. Apart from the heat. And this newfound tendency to call Changmin up with requests that make his insides clench with that siren call of desire. “You know I can’t,” he murmurs, bringing one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “This is your heat talking, hyung. Is it— Do you feel better?”

"It's _not_ my heat talking," says Yunho adamantly. "I want you here because I miss you. The house feels empty without you. Also my bed," admits Yunho.

A groan bubbles at the back of Changmin’s throat, at the mental image of Yunho stretched out in bed. Waiting for Changmin to come home. _Thanks, brain. Like I need to pop a boner right before class_. “Don’t do this to me,” he whines, clutching the phone closer. Maybe they should video call— No. Definitely not. Changmin doesn’t think he’d be able to survive _that_. “You know I’m in school right now.”

"I know," sighs Yunho weakly. "Come home soon. I'm feeling much better, and it's going away quicker than last time." There's a short pause, and then Yunho moans, "Come make me feel better…"

Changmin’s dick jumps at that, apparently considers that invitation The Best Idea Ever, and he has to think of all kinds of unsexy things to calm himself down before he gets reported for public indecency or something equally mortifying. Like ingrown toenails or naked old people. Or that one time Yanghyun tried on a speedo during a family outing to the beach. Yunho’s moan had seared right through his defences and it leaves him with the overwhelming need to be with the older boy. To just ditch school and march straight home, as if he wouldn’t get his ass whupped by Mihyun once she sees him.

“Hyung, that’s not _fair_.” Changmin scrapes a hand through his hair, damned near pulling out half of it at the roots. The wolf inside him is howling to be let free, raging against being kept from his omega. Changmin’s in control, but barely and this phone call isn’t helping. “I need to hang up now, alright?” _And go to the bathroom to jack off_. _Or cry._ “I’ll ask Umma if I can go home earlier. I miss you too.”

"Okay," says Yunho, and Changmin can hear Yunho's pout. "Don't leave me alone too long."

Changmin nods, although Yunho can’t see him, and whispers an ‘_I love you_’ before ending the call. He shoves the phone back into his pocket and leans against the wall, banging his head back just to clear some thoughts out. He hates this. He absolutely _hates _this, being away from Yunho and not being able to do anything for the older boy, when it should’ve been his responsibility to make sure that Yunho is taken care of. Another harsh sigh of frustration and Changmin peels himself off the wall, heading back to his class. He sees Jiwook going back to his own classroom at the other end of the hall and narrows his eyes, expecting another confrontation as they draw closer. But the other alpha just throws him a smirk, sharp and slanted and smug, and then walks off like he hadn’t been harassing Changmin just five minutes before.

There’s a trickle of trepidation going down Changmin’s spine, but he dismisses it. Jiwook can’t do anything to him or Yunho, no matter how much the asshole wishes to.

Changmin won’t allow it.

.

Yunho is very, very distractedly helping his mother peel the potatoes in the kitchen. The last of his heat tapered off completely last night, and he started feeling completely like himself again starting this morning. He woke up too late to go to school, but he’d felt good enough to come down the stairs in the morning and spend some time with his mother.

He tried to get a bit more studying done in the afternoon — to be honest, schoolwork isn’t a huge priority anymore given that he’s decided that he’s going to try to get into university through the CSATs instead of his school grades, so missing the week of school wasn’t much of a problem; but he did miss a week of studying on his own. Even still, he’s still a bit too anxious and tired to sit down to study (he suspects it’ll stay that way until Changmin comes home), and seeing that, Mihyun asked him to just help with the cooking. His father will be picking Changmin up from Minho’s house on the way back from work, and Yunho, really, _cannot wait._

Changmin pushes the door open as soon as the car rolls into the driveway, doesn’t even wait for it to stop. He can hear Yanghyun laughing when his feet hit the concrete, almost tripping, but somehow manages to keep his balance. He can always go back for his bags later. He goes through the front door quickly and kicks off his shoes, nose in the air to catch Yunho’s scent. It leads him straight to the kitchen.

“Hyung!” Changmin’s face breaks into a grin when he sees Yunho at the table and he stops there, throwing his arms open. “I’m home!”

Yunho jerks up and gasps, isn't sure how he missed the sound of the car stopping in the driveway (he makes a really bad wolf sometimes, seriously) and drops the potato peeler on the table and gets up, stumbles over his chair, and launches himself into Changmin's arms. "Changmin!!!"

It feels like two gears slotting perfectly together, like two puzzle pieces fitting right in together. Like the rest of him, his other half, has finally returned to him to make him whole again.

"I missed you," whispers Yunho against Changmin's neck, and he's barely able to keep himself from kissing him.

It’s only the sight of Mihyun shaking her head in amusement at them that stops Changmin from kissing Yunho right then and there. To compensate, he squeezes his arms tighter around the older boy, pouring every single ounce of feelings into the hug. “I missed you too,” he whispers, inhaling deeply. Yunho’s scent is _home_ to him and whatever prickliness he’d experienced throughout the week evaporates in a second. He leans back, just a little bit to get a better look at Yunho’s face. “How are you feeling? Better?”

Yunho nods and closes the distance again. "Better now that you're here."

Changmin’s heart swells with that familiar, almost overbearing surge of love and protectiveness, part alpha instinct but mostly an age-old compulsion brought to the surface by the revelation of their feelings for each other. He’d realised this while he was away — that it doesn’t matter if Yunho is a beta or an omega, sooner or later, Changmin would’ve done something to ensure that Yunho would be his. Just so they would never be apart. He can’t imagine a life where they’re not together, doesn’t even want to and the thought makes him push his face into Yunho’s shoulder.

“_God_, you guys are so gross.” Jihye nudges past them, making a face. “Get a room, Oppa.”

_Not a bad idea,_ thinks Yunho. They should go to their room so that they can kiss properly after a long, long week. Yunho doesn't remember much, but he looked through his text messages to Changmin this morning, and they all sounded _pretty _desperate, and clearly, Yunho missed him for the whole week. "Let's go upstairs so you can change," says Yunho, and he squirms around so now they're securely holding hands instead.

Sticking his tongue out at Jihye, Changmin allows Yunho to drag him upstairs. Never mind that Jihye’s face clearly tells him that she sees right through the excuse. He’s not quite sure how to feel about her knowing what they’re up to. On one hand, she doesn’t seem phased at all to find that her brothers are (sort of) in a relationship. As if she’d anticipated this, way before they managed to navigate their own feelings for each other. On the other, it’s _Jihye_. God knows what’s brewing inside that head of hers. Once they arrive on the first floor landing, Changmin tug at Yunho’s hand to stop him. And once Yunho half-turns towards him, confusion in those dark eyes, Changmin merely grins and scoops him up, determined to do better this time.

He’d done extra upper body workouts during the past few months, just for this. Hefting Yunho even closer, he nuzzles the side of Yunho’s face. “Hey, you.”

Yunho's surprised, but it feels much more natural than the first time that Changmin tried this, on the first night that they kissed. Yunho laughs and nuzzles his own nose into Changmin. Once they reach Yunho's room, Yunho closes the door with his free hand and plants a kiss on Changmin's cheek. "You stud."

“I’m gonna give you the full experience later.” Changmin waggles his eyebrows and crosses the room, more confident this time around that he wouldn’t drop Yunho. He gently lowers the older boy into the bed, before joining him, pressing the entire lengths of their bodies together. “Missed you,” Changmin murmurs, echoing that sentiment with each kiss he trails over the column of Yunho’s neck to his jaw to the corner of his mouth. His elbows are braced on either side of Yunho’s head as he looks down at him, lips curling into a tender smile. “You know I love you, right?”

Yunho smiles and wraps his arms around Changmin's neck — and in place of answering, he pulls Changmin closer and connect their lips together for the long-awaited kiss. Changmin is only too happy to reciprocate. Yunho's skin is porcelain pale and it makes the dark of his lashes stand out even more, especially when they rest in half-moons over his cheeks. His soft, soft lips move slowly against Changmin and it makes electricity crackle inside his head, shutting out all other noises. The arch of Yunho's neck, the curve of his shoulder, the narrowness of his hips: Changmin wants every single part of him. He rests a hand gently on Yunho's cheek as he angles his mouth to deepen the kiss, thumb sweeping back and forth, back and forth over the shape of Yunho's cheekbone. Fretfully, because Changmin wants to touch him everywhere, but isn't quite sure if he's allowed.

After all, they're supposed to be taking this slow. 

His other hand goes to curl around Yunho's hip, rucking his shirt up so he's touching bare skin. He breaks the kiss to help Yunho take the shirt off, before doing the same with his. Yunho’s arms are immediately around his neck again once they’re both topless, pressing skin to skin, and Changmin can feel every breath they take in the rise and fall of their chests. His hands skim Yunho’s belly, making the older boy shudder when they skitter lower. He doesn’t go any further than the waistband of Yunho’s sweats, just uses his grip to hold Yunho down to the bed.

“_Hyung_,” Changmin pants, mouthing the word against Yunho’s neck. Wet and hungry. “Can I—”

Yunho is far too distracted by the sweet kiss and Changmin's tender touch, but he manages to nod. "Yes," he gasps. He wants Changmin to touch, to caress him — and he revels in the fact that it's not his heat talking —

The inside of Changmin’s stomach is doing crazy somersaults and he looks at Yunho’s face to make sure that he’d heard him right. When he sees the flush on Yunho’s cheeks and the shy smile he gets in return, he very nearly whooped in triumph. He would’ve stopped if Yunho tells him to, because while he’d been hoping for a green light, he wasn’t expecting it. Changmin exhales shakily and his fingers slip underneath the waistband, brushing the elastic of Yunho’s briefs—

“Boys! Dinner's ready!”

Changmin yelps in surprise, rolls off of Yunho (and the bed) in one jerky tumble, and promptly crashes to the floor with a loud crunch. He thinks he might’ve landed on his dick and considering he’s been hard since he started kissing Yunho, there’s a 50-50 chance that he’d broken Changmin Jr. Rolling to the other side so he’s facing away from the door, Changmin curls around his poor dick and bites his lips to stifle the pained groan that’s threatening to spill from his mouth.

Yanghyun stands at the doorway, widely-grinning. Only now with a slight tinge of confusion as he takes in Changmin’s position on the floor. He raises his eyebrows at Yunho. “What happened to your brother?”

"Um," says Yunho, and it's too bad that he's a spectacularly bad liar, but the gears are turning in his head, and he comes up with something acceptable. "We were roughing around!" he says enthusiastically. "Um, maybe I pushed Changmin a little too hard off the bed. Changdol, are you okay?"

Changmin raises a wobbly hand and gives them both a thumbs up, not trusting his voice to answer that question.

Yanghyun used to think that Yunho and Changmin are too big to be wrestling around like when they were still cubs, but it’s heartwarming to see that nothing has changed between those two boys. They might’ve hit the rocks for a while after Yunho presented, but they always come together in the end. He laughs fondly and nods at Yunho. “Come down when you’re done.”

Yunho nods and watches his father back out of the room and into the hallway, and lets out the breath he'd been holding. He belatedly gets up and closes the door, locks it. "We forgot to lock the door!" he laments. He walks closer to where Changmin's still doubled over. "Are you okay?"

“I think I sprained my dick,” Changmin groans pitifully, more theatrical than anything else at this point. He cracks his eyes open and pouts at Yunho. “Maybe you should kiss it better?”

Yunho laughs and flicks Changmin's forehead playfully. "I'll blow on it later," he says, and it's only when Changmin cackles that he realizes what it sounded like and blushes again. "Okay, come on, dinner."

Changmin climbs to his feet and grabs his t-shirt from where he’d flung it off and hands Yunho's to him, too. It’s unbelievable how many times they’d been interrupted so far — by Jihye, by Yanghyun — and he suspects that one of these days, at the rate they’re going, even their neighbour’s going to walk in on them. Sighing at the missed opportunity, he reaches out for Yunho before they’re out of the door, hugging the older boy from behind. Changmin trails kisses from the back of Yunho’s neck, to his ear. And tightens the arms around Yunho’s waist as he whispers, “You can blow me anytime, hyung.”

"You're such a sleaze," complains Yunho, but he's still laughing all the same. "I swear, it's a lucky thing you're hot, or you'd be classified as a creep." Or a teenager. Same thing.

“Only for you.” Changmin nips at Yunho’s ear, before letting him go. He flashes him a smug smile. “I’m not the one getting horny on the phone during school hours.”

Yunho does vaguely remember that conversation. "I was in heat!" he says defensively. "And you're my alpha! Of course I'd be horny on the phone with you. _During my heat!_"

To hear Yunho calling him ‘_my alpha_’ stops Changmin dead in his tracks. He pivots on his heels and crowds Yunho against the door, eyes wide, flashes of gold interwoven in the darker brown of his irises. “_Your _alpha?” He grips Yunho’s hips and has to hold back to stop himself from going too hard. “You’re _mine_, then. _My _omega.” Changmin lowers his face, breathing the word ‘_forever_’ into Yunho’s mouth before he’s kissing him, hard and insistent.

Despite having over a year to come to terms with the fact that he's an omega, he doesn't like being called it; he doesn't like being defined as one, and doesn't like the label and all of the implications that come with it. But the way Changmin says the words gives off a different feel, as if 'omega' means 'someone so precious and deserving of love and care for the rest of his life'. And the aversion to the word lessens, if only a little, as Yunho melts into the kiss.

They break apart only when they hear their mother yelling for them from downstairs, and when they look into each other's eyes, Changmin's looking at Yunho so sweetly that Yunho can practically see honey dripping out of his eyes. "Let's go," says Yunho, reaching for Changmin's hand, and they hold hands as they make their way downstairs, both of their faces flushed.

Everyone's already sitting at the table and the boys take their seats beside each other. They sometimes play a game of how long into the meal they can continue to hold hands under the table, given that Yunho's left-handed and Changmin is right-handed, so they can hold hands with the hands they're not eating with. It's not often they play this game, but Yunho thinks after not seeing each other for a week, today is a good day for it. Changmin shoots him a private little grin, intertwining his fingers with Yunho’s and placing their hands on his thigh. He gives Yunho’s foot a little nudge but doesn’t try anything more, because Jihye is already looking at them suspiciously.

“How was school today, Changmin?” Mihyun asks, placing a plate of grilled pork belly in the middle of the table. She’d apparently made extra effort today, looking at the amount of food spread out before them. Taking her place next to Yanghyun, her eyes crinkle as she smiles. “Did you get into trouble?”

“No,” he scoffs, carefully skirting around the urge to mention another encounter with Jiwook that morning. The other alpha hadn’t said anything, which should’ve been fine, but Changmin finds himself unsettled by Jiwook’s recent silence. “Is Yunho-hyung coming back to school next week?”

Yunho glances at his mother. "I could even go back tomorrow." He just wants to stop being separated from Changmin. "I feel completely normal."

Changmin perks up at that, turning wide eyes at their parents. “_Please_, Appa? Umma?”

Mihyun glances at her mate, who shrugs. "Are you sure you don't need to rest a bit longer? Tomorrow is Friday, so if you take tomorrow off, you won't have to go back to school until Monday."

Yunho shakes his head enthusiastically. "No, Umma, I'm fine! Seriously." Though it's probably a good idea to take the time off and study for his exams instead; at this point, school is kind of superfluous. But at the same time, Changmin is also at school.

His mother smiles. "If you're feeling well enough to go, then go ahead."

Changmin squeezes Yunho’s hand, mouth pulled back into a pleased, toothy grin. There’s only a day left in the week and it wouldn’t have made any difference usually, but he truly missed seeing Yunho in school. The classroom feels empty without the older boy and he’d caught himself looking at Yunho’s empty desk more than once throughout the day, like a lovesick fool. Changmin picks up a piece of grilled meat and puts it into Yunho’s bowl, his mood significantly brighter now that he knows he’ll have Yunho with him tomorrow.

“Just make sure that you take your medicine,” Yanghyun reminds his son, still sounding slightly concerned. It’s hard not to worry, despite his best efforts to not defer to his overprotective alpha instincts.

"Oh, yeah, I should get back on the meds," Yunho says. He fishes out the meat that Changmin put into his bowl and gets some rice on his chopsticks too, but his bowl tips a little, since he isn't able to stabilize it with his other hand as it still clutches Changmin's. It makes quite the noise, but gratefully, it doesn't topple over.

Changmin nearly giggles when he sees Yunho’s bowl wobbling and shoves pork belly into his mouth to stop himself in time. Yanghyun gives Yunho an odd look, before asking, “How’s your study going? Have you been doing the mock test questions?”

It's like his father becomes more worried about his future after a heat. Yunho nods. "Yeah, I mean… I didn't study for the past week, obviously. But I'm doing lots of mock tests. I'm… I mean, it's going okay. I'm getting mostly the top level, and only a couple second level, really close to the cut line. I'll bring those up, too."

Yanghyun nods, appeased by the answer. He knows how hard Yunho is working, especially since Changmin was approached for a scholarship from Yonsei. And if wanting to go to the same university is the motivation for Yunho to take his grades more seriously, Yanghyun isn’t about to say anything. He would prefer having the boys in one place after all, so they can look out for each other. “That’s good. Keep it up and you’ll do fine.”

“As long as you make sure you’re taking care of yourself as well,” Mihyun chimes in, staring pointedly at both Yunho and Changmin. "Don't be reckless."

Yunho nods, though he's not sure what his mother is talking about, exactly. "I'm practicing reading the questions carefully. Also I really, really do feel fine to go to school tomorrow."

Yanghyun nods his approval, but Mihyun looks like she's trying not to roll her eyes.

Changmin knows enough to keep his mouth shut. His ears, however, have turned red again and he ducks his head to avoid looking at Mihyun. There’s an unspoken warning underlining her words that he’d rather not dissect, especially in front of others. Or at all, actually. It’s better to just ignore it altogether. “I’ll keep an eye on hyung, Umma,” he says instead, attempting to redirect the conversation to safer waters. “By the way, is it okay if we go out for a bit after this?”

Mihyun frowns. "Where are you going?"

“Uh, outside? For a walk?” Changmin fumbles, looking at Yunho for help. “It’d be good for hyung to get some fresh air?”

Mihyun frowns with suspicion, but Yunho _has_ been cooped up far too long, even before his heat, and it would be nice for Yunho to go outside. "I want you back before nine."

“Thanks, Umma!”

Changmin ignores the confused glance from Yunho in favour of heaping more meat into the older boy’s bowl and then fighting off Jihye for the last piece of seafood pancake. Holding hands becomes a bit more difficult during the scuffle, since Jihye fights dirty, and he has to let go when he nearly knocks over his glass of water. Once they’ve cleared out the rest of the food, Changmin grabs Yunho and nudges him towards the front door before anyone else can question where they’re going and what they’re doing.

“C’mon.” He grins, lowering his voice as if they’re sharing a secret. “Let’s get out of there.”

"Where are we going?" says Yunho, as if it really matters; in moments, he's already slipping on his shoes.

“For a walk,” Changmin deadpans. The sky is only just starting to darken, the sun making its slow descent behind the shapes of the buildings around them. It’s also starting to get even colder and he snags Yunho’s jacket from its peg alongside his, holding it out for him. “Gotta work off all those calories or I’m going to sink to the bottom of the pool later.”

Yunho laughs as he takes the jacket from Changmin and puts it on. "Then maybe Yonsei would take that scholarship away, and we can go to a different university together. Maybe one where I don't have to suffer as much to get in."

Changmin pauses mid-stretch and he turns to Yunho, a frown upon his brows. “I didn’t have to accept that scholarship, you know that.” His mouth curls downwards, his earlier good mood dissipating quickly. “You should have told me. I would’ve been happy to take the test together with you.”

Yunho shakes his head and reaches for Changmin's hand. "That's not what I meant. I'm just joking."

“Are you?” Changmin studies Yunho’s face, recalling all those weeks of Yunho forcing himself to stay inside and study. When he would’ve usually gone about with his friends and dance crews. Maybe going to Yonsei isn’t such a good idea after all — they could’ve picked an easier university to get into and Yunho wouldn’t have to sacrifice all the things he loves just to make the grades. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

Yunho nods decisively. He didn't mean for Changmin to second guess himself. "This is what's best in the long run."

Changmin doesn’t look convinced, but he drops the matter for the time being in favour of tugging Yunho down the driveway. Most people are already inside, enjoying their dinner and family time, and the almost-empty street affords them a sense of freedom that doesn’t exactly come often. The air is crisp with a cold edge and Changmin breathes deeply as he keeps Yunho close to him, feeling much lighter than he’d been for days. He leads them to the playground near the community centre just as the sun sinks in its entirety, leaving behind a sliver of half-darkness awashed with the last strokes of colours. There’s a wooden bench underneath a tree bristling with dark gold leaves and they end up sitting there, shoulder-to-shoulder and hands still clasped tightly together.

“I think Umma already knows,” he starts, mildly. “And Jihye too.”

Yunho hesitates, turns his head to look at Changmin worriedly. "You… you think so?" Changmin doesn’t have to say what exactly they know for Yunho to pick up on it — Yunho has been suspecting the same for a while as well, at least about Jihye. And it isn’t exactly that they _know_ that troubles him (eventually, they’re going to have to find out, and he knows that), but what might come of that. That they might be forced apart.

Changmin nods and squeezes Yunho’s hand, before bringing it up to press his mouth over the back of that hand. “We’ll be fine,” he says, voice firm with conviction. He doesn’t know what the future holds for them, but he _does _know this: they will always be together. That’s just the way it is and will always be. “Are you okay with this? You did say you want us to go slower, but I just— I’m sorry if I pushed you—”

Yunho can't help but laugh, and he feels so _precious_ and he feels his heart glowing. "I think we're going slow enough," he reassures Changmin, squeezing his hand.

Changmin lets out a bark of laughter and leans in to press a kiss to Yunho's mouth, after giving their surrounding a surreptitious glance. "So we can go faster after this?" he asks cheekily.

Yunho chuckles and swings his legs back and forth as he nods shyly. "I just… got freaked out that time because…" _you called me your mate. And I wasn't ready._ Yunho trails off and smiles. "...I wasn't sure how someone as amazing as you could love someone like me." When Yunho's self-esteem had hit rock bottom after presenting as an omega. "Even now, I'm grateful. And I still can't— I can't quite believe all this."

Self-deprecation isn’t a pretty colour on Yunho and it sits heavily between them, sobering up the moment. There’s been more instances like this for the past few months, when Yunho looks uncertain at times, and Changmin had never asked. Didn’t think he should push and decided to wait until Yunho’s ready to talk. He isn’t expecting _this_, however. “I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I,” Changmin says, still lighthearted, but his hold on Yunho tightens. “And you know what? I’m only amazing because how else am I supposed to keep up with you?” He takes both of Yunho’s hands in his, brushing his lips on the knuckles on one hand and then the other. “You make me a better person, hyung.”

Yunho blushes a deep crimson as he ducks his head — Changmin makes him feel like the most precious, most important person in the world and loves that, but to hear such ridiculous compliments is — well. Ridiculous. He just shakes his head, not even able to meet eyes with Changmin, but that embarrassed smile is hang on his lips.

“What?” Changmin smirks, tilting his head to peer at Yunho mischievously. “Cat got your tongue?”

Yunho gives Changmin's hands a very, very light shove. "Stop. You know you're too much for me."

“That’s not true and you know it.” The smirk softens into a smile. “Now I need you to close your eyes.”

Yunho looks up curiously into Changmin's light, shining eyes, but it doesn't seem like he's going to give away any clues. So Yunho just closes his eyes obediently. Changmin takes a half-second to check if Yunho had truly closed his eyes, suddenly nervous now that he’d arrived at this point. He lets go of Yunho’s hands, reaching into his pocket and has to shuffle around just to get it out. The small paper bag is a bit crumpled from the amount of times he’d closed his fingers around it throughout the day and Changmin heaves a sigh of relief when its content is undamaged. Checking that Yunho is still not looking, Changmin very carefully unhooks its silver clasp and loops the bracelet around Yunho’s right wrist.

He’s still nervous, isn’t sure if Yunho will be fine with this. “You can open your eyes now.”

Yunho opens his eyes rather hastily and he sees Changmin's expectant, slightly nervous face in front of him first, and he thinks as his heart pounds into his ribcage, _If I have you, I don't need anything else_, and can't take his eyes off him. But Changmin tugs at his hand, prompting him to look there, and Yunho turns his attention to his wrist, where the delicate silver bracelet sits. He lets out a gasp. "Ch-Changmin."

“It’s not much, but I thought you might like it.” Changmin can feel his ears turning red, embarrassment making his skin itch. He wanted to get something much nicer, but his allowance only stretches so far and the jeweller had even thrown in an engraved ‘_SCMxJYH_’ on the inside of the bracelet for free. He rubs the back of his head and grins at Yunho. “A good luck charm, for your test.”

Yunho breathes out as he lets the bracelet shimmer in the orange light of the sunset. He's lost for words, and it's not the bracelet itself that is so special, but the fact that Changmin loves him enough to think of something like this. As if Yunho's not inadequate — as if he deserves all the love in the world. "I don't know what to say," Yunho whispers honestly, shaking his head. "Thank you."

Changmin’s grin is so wide that it feels like it’s going to split his face into two and he pulls Yunho into a hug, kissing the side of Yunho’s neck as he does so. It’s not as grand a gesture as he would’ve hoped to make, but from the look on Yunho’s face, he thinks he did quite well either way. Still grinning, he gives Yunho’s lips a peck and says, “We should go back and lock the door after this.” He waggles his eyebrows. “Since we got interrupted last time.”

Yunho laughs and blushes even harder. He pushes Changmin away before, in the same movement, he gathers him into his arms again. "I love you, Changmin," he whispers into the side of Changmin's neck. "_I love you so much_."

“Stop stealing my line.” The words come out a bit strained, as Changmin tries to keep himself from choking up. He buries his face into Yunho’s shoulder, holding him even closer and revelling in the warmth, the soft, sweet scent and the fact that he’s lucky enough to be here, with Yunho. “C’mon, let’s go home before you make me cry.”

Yunho nudges Changmin with his nose once more before they let go, and instead clasp their hands together. The bracelet tickles the back of his hand as he holds Changmin's and he smiles. "I'm definitely going to wear this for my exams."

The streetlights are coming to life by the time they get to the main street, casting a warm glow against the curves of Yunho’s face and Changmin really needs to take his eyes off of Yunho before he walks right into a fire hydrant or something. “_Just_ for your exams?”

Yunho nods. "Don't want to wear off the good luck."

“But— I don’t think it’s gonna wear off!” Changmin pouts, getting a little bit sulky. He’d like nothing more than to see the bracelet on Yunho’s wrist all the time, knowing that he’s the one that put it there. “You should wear it every day, hyung.”

Yunho thinks Changmin's being all sorts of cute and he kisses the corner of Changmin's mouth to appease him. Yunho knows how disastrous he can be when it comes to keeping things safe, and he wouldn't ever forgive himself if he lost or broke a gift like this — especially before his exams.

"I should wear it on the days I need the luck," explains Yunho. He smiles at Changmin. "Doesn't mean I don't absolutely love it."

Changmin pouts even harder, brows furrowing even after the kiss. It’s not as if he can argue with Yunho about this and from the look of it, the older boy isn’t about to change his stance. Perhaps he should get something a little bit more permanently attached to Yunho’s body next time. Like earrings. Or a different kind of piercing— Changmin forces himself to not follow that trail of thought when it threatens to head south. Literally. Okay so maybe he should stop watching so much porn. Not that he’d done it a lot since he got together with Yunho, but _still_. Changmin heaves a sigh when they reach home and as they stand at the front door, he tugs Yunho closer before he can go inside.

“I love you,” he whispers, pressing their foreheads together. “Always.”

Yunho smiles and presses a kiss to Changmin's lips. He could never ask for anything more, and for that, he's grateful.

.

Yunho’s still tired from the aftermath of his heat when he wakes up with Changmin’s wolf in his arms, but with Changmin excitedly wagging his tail and licking his face all over, there’s little time for Yunho to laze around in bed before getting up — not that he minds; he’s missed waking up with Changmin in the mornings.

“_You sure you’re feeling okay?_” Changmin puts his snout to crook of Yunho’s neck and inhales deeply. Yunho still smells sweeter than usual, but it’s not as thick and cloying as it had been. He shifts, rippling muscles replacing thick fur and kisses a trail from Yunho’s neck to his mouth. He nips playfully at Yunho’s bottom lip. “Maybe we should stay in bed. You think Umma will let me skip school if I tell her I’m not feeling well?”

“Definitely not,” mutters Yunho, then he pouts out his lips to give Changmin a proper kiss. “I can get up for school. I’m excited to go back with you.”

Changmin’s mouth quirks into a smile and he spends the next few minutes leisurely kissing Yunho, doesn’t matter that they both have morning breaths. They only stop when they hear Jihye in the hallway, bellowing their names and threatening to come into the room if they don’t start getting ready. By the time Changmin and Yunho trot downstairs, Mihyun gives them both an identical exasperated look and tells him to eat their breakfast quickly or everyone’s going to be late. Changmin falls upon the table like he’d been starved, quickly getting into a play-fight with Jihye for the eggrolls. Yanghyun’s laughing at them over the top of his newspaper while Mihyun just shakes her head. She turns to Yunho, expression pulling into concern.

She strokes his hair back and asks, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” says Yunho with a nod as he forces another spoonful of rice into his mouth. “I feel okay.”

Mihyun exhales slowly. She’s still unconvinced that Yunho should be going back to school this early and would’ve been happier if he spends the rest of the week at home, but he seems determined and she knows from experience how stubborn her oldest son can be. “If you’re certain.” She pats Yunho’s shoulder and smiles. “Just be careful, alright? If you feel any different, go straight to the nurse’s office.”

“Yes, Umma,” grins Yunho. “And Changmin’s there to look out for me.” Changmin slings an arm around his waist, still chewing, and Yunho puts his hand on Changmin’s thigh. It’s such a stark contrast to the first day of school after his last heat in an infinitely better way.

Mihyun’s smile widens, not as worried as before with the assurance that her boys are looking out for each other. Yanghyun tells them that he would be coming home late that day, due to a dinner appointment with the new ADA, and they’re bundled into the car soon after. Changmin holds Yunho’s hand throughout, content to have the older boy next to him again. The week of separation feels like a lifetime ago and he can’t help the wide grin on his face as he keeps glancing at Yunho, his chest feeling lighter than it’s been for a while. Once Yanghyun had driven off, Jihye takes one look at them, rolls her eyes and leaves her brothers at the gates.

“I need to see Coach before class.” It takes Changmin’s entire willpower not to kiss Yunho goodbye. “It won’t take long!”

Yunho pouts, wishes Changmin didn’t have to go, but he nods. “Be fast. I didn’t come to school today to be separated from you _again_.”

Changmin nods and squeezes Yunho’s hand, before reluctantly letting him go. He heads for the staff room and Yunho sighs, watching Changmin until the younger boy disappears around the corner. He turns towards their classroom, lips curling into a smile when he catches sight of his friends — he really does miss going to school. Yunho doesn’t notice the girl coming from the back and almost stumbles when she elbows into him when she walks past. She stops to look at him, but instead of apologising, her face twists into an expression of disgust.

“Stay away from Jiwook-oppa,” she spits out, before stalking away.

A frown of confusion appears on Yunho's face. "Wh-what —"

There’s no answer from the girl, who must’ve been in the lower grades because Yunho has never seen her before. He rubs at his side, wincing when his fingers find the tender spot and the bruise growing there. The start of his day is turning out to be more bewildering than anything else and he’s at the staircase when it takes another turn towards the worst. He’s so preoccupied with trying to figure out what had happened with the girl that when Jiwook barrels into him, slamming him against the wall, Yunho can do nothing more than to let out a pained grunt. He’s still taller than the alpha, but Yunho just spent an entire week in bed, barely eating or sleeping, while Jiwook is bulkier. Heavier. Yunho is still blinking dark spots from his vision, a dull throb radiating from the back of his head where he’d bounced it against the wall, and he jerks as Jiwook shoves his nose to Yunho neck. Sniffing loudly.

Before pulling back, grinning with all teeth. “I knew it,” he hisses, eyes narrowed. There’s malice dripping from his voice, viscous and poisonous. His grip on Yunho’s forearms tightens, nails digging through the soft fabric. “Welcome back, _omega_.”

.

**tbc**

.


	13. Chapter 13

.

Yunho's heart drops and his eyes widen. His breaths become uneven as he stares into the other alpha's eyes in fear with his forearms pinned against the wall on either sides of his head, and it's like he's forgotten how to speak. He tries to push Jiwook away to no avail.

“Did you think I won’t find out?” Jiwook shoves at Yunho, pressing closer. His eyes are ringed with gold, a feral touch to his grin as it grows more teeth. “An omega bitch like you needs an alpha to keep you in line, baby. And I’m right here.” He shoves a thigh between Yunho’s legs, riding dangerously higher. His mouth grazes the shell of Yunho’s ear, hot breath rolling off of him. “Only thing good about you is for _ fucking."_

Goosebumps appear on his skin at the same time that the words pierce through his already-fragile heart, chipping at his armour, and Yunho shakes his head desperately as a whimper escapes from his lips. Jiwook seems to revel in that and opens his mouth to drive the nails deeper, but he’s derailed by the sound of laughter coming up to them. He backs off in an instant, patting Yunho’s cheek roughly before walking off. Leaving Yunho leaning against the wall, heart pounding as Jiwook’s voice continues to echo inside his head long after the alpha is gone. He can’t breathe, like a scream is stuck inside his throat. Trying to claw its way out, raw and bloody. 

“Yunho-hyung?” Changmin would’ve thought that Yunho would be in their classroom by now, isn’t expecting to see the older boy at the staircase. His brows furrow with concern when he takes in how pale Yunho is and that he isn’t looking at Changmin. “Hey, are you okay?"

It's a strange mixture of feelings — there's relief over having Changmin here again, but there's also residual fear and shame, and guilt and worry. And Yunho can't quite process the feelings, and isn't sure whether he's okay or not. Isn't sure whether to draft Changmin into this mess or not. But Changmin's patient with him, just runs his hand over his arms gently, soothing him, and waits for him to feel okay enough to talk, and Yunho finally speaks. "He… He knows. Han Jiwook. He knows."

Changmin bristles when he hears that name, eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about?”

Yunho swallows as fear grips his stomach again. "He knows that I'm an omega."

Fury rises inside Changmin like a tide, only kept in check by a thin strand of disbelief. Because _ nobody _ outside the pack should know. Their father had made certain of that and Jung Yanghyun’s position in the pack, in the community affords him the authority to do so. “Are you sure?” He gently maneuvers Yunho to sit on the stairs, kneeling in front of the older boy so he can look at Yunho’s face. He doesn’t like what he’s seeing — the bloodlessness of Yunho’s face, residual fear lurking inside his eyes and how his mouth is a downturned curl of misery. Changmin places his hands on Yunho’s knees, attempting to offer comfort. “What did he say to you?” 

Yunho knows it's immature, but he doesn't want even Changmin to hear what was said about him — what other people think of him. He wants, _ hopes _to be held in high esteem in the minds of people he cares about the most, and doesn't want anyone to jeopardize that, especially when that person is Jiwook. So he just shakes his head. "He just called me an omega. And that he knew it."

“That fucking _ dickbag._” Changmin clenches his jaw, molars grinding as he thinks about Jiwook ambushing Yunho when he wasn’t around. He thinks about Jiwook putting his hands on Yunho and the tide inside him rises higher, blacker. He stands to his full height, blood pounding in his ears, and says, matter-of-factly, “I’m going to kill him.”

Yunho gets up too, and grabs Changmin's arm quickly. "You can't, we can't get into trouble anymore. And he's not worth it." Changmin still looks absolutely furious, and Yunho squeezes Changmin's arm. "I mean it. He doesn't matter. The only thing that matters now is us, staying together."

Changmin would very much like to disagree. Jiwook had already crossed the line once when he came onto Yunho a year back, but it seems like that arrogant asshole hasn’t learnt his lesson. Even after the warning Changmin had delivered. His fingers curl and uncurl into fists, and it’s only Yunho’s hand on his arm that keeps him in place. “If he comes to you again, you tell me.” He palms Yunho’s jaw, looking at him straight in the eye. “Promise?”

Yunho nods and forces out a smile, and at that moment, the warning bell rings, reminding the boys to head to class. They walk up the stairs together, though since they're in public eye now, they're not holding hands. But Yunho wishes they were, just to help calm him down from his earlier interaction with the _ disgusting _alpha wolf.

And Yunho isn't fully prepared for what is waiting for him as they reach the classroom. He'd been expecting something similar to when he came back to school after his first heat — everyone crowding around him to ask if he's okay, and to give him hugs and squeeze his arm as if to make sure he's still in one piece; but he enters to the rowdy classroom suddenly becoming a step quieter, and it feels like _ everyone _ is staring at him from their seats. He even catches sight of some of them whispering behind their hands to each other, and Yunho realizes, Jiwook had told everyone.

He feels himself flush with shame, and for a moment, debates running out of the classroom back home. But he clenches his teeth and walks to his seat and sits down, doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone, and hoping that class will start soon. His eyes flicker to where Changmin’s seated, a few rows ahead, and he can see the stiff line of Changmin’s shoulders. How tightly Changmin’s holding himself together and even with the distance between them, Yunho can feel waves of fury radiating from the younger boy. The teacher comes in just then, putting the class into order and giving Yunho a brief respite from all the staring and whispering. The hour passes too quickly, however, and within the sliver of free time between one subject and another, two of his classmates approach Yunho. They stand in front of his desk. Yunho can see the dark frown on Changmin’s face and he quickly shakes his head.

“Is it true?” One of them says, without preamble. The look on her face is more curious than anything else. “That you’re a— _ you know_?”

Yunho looks up at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She huffs and leans in, voice lowering conspiratorially. “An omega?”

Yunho clenches his teeth. "Why does it matter?"

Her friend crosses her arms and she’s also leaning in, which makes this look more like an interrogation than it initially was. “It _ matters_. We heard that you’re an omega, so we just wanna know if that’s horseshit.”

"Look, how does it matter?" Says Yunho defensively. "If I'm an omega, if I'm a beta, it _ doesn't _ —"

The first girl braces her hands against Yunho’s desk, looking very serious. Her voice lowers even more. “If you’re an omega, that means you’re gay, _ right?_”

That's not at all what Yunho was expecting to hear, and he blinks as his mouth drops open. "_What_?"

“Yeah, because us humans don’t have secondary genders and we heard that omegas are usually—” Patches of red appear on her cheeks during the pause, but she determinedly goes on, the glint in her eyes somewhat wild, “—_ mated _ with, like, an alpha and carry his kids—” Another pause, heavier this time as both of them turns red, “—and Eunkyung said that means you’re gay and that’s why you’re never interested in girls—” 

She stops abruptly. “Is it _ true?_”

"Listen, not all omegas are gay," says Yunho. They should know this all already, they should have _ learned it from school_. "Like there's female omegas, there's male omegas, and there are female alphas and male alphas, and anyone can be straight or gay, it has nothing to do with their secondary genders!" 

“Yeah, yeah.” She waves off the explanation with a flick of her wrist, looking very unimpressed. “You’re still not answering the question though.”

"Because _ it doesn't matter,_" emphasizes Yunho with a sigh. "It's not like I'm suddenly going to turn gay just because I found out I was an omega."

“So you’re _ not _ gay?” 

"I'm not _ straight,_" corrects Yunho out of reflex, and only registers what he says when he sees the girls' faces turn from curious to gleeful.

“I knew it!” The first girl glances at her friend triumphantly and gets an eyeroll in return, but the other girl is also grinning. She pats Yunho’s shoulder and winks. “Equal opportunist, right? That’s smart.”

A little chuckle escapes him despite everything, and he shakes his head. "But like I said, _ none of this matters_."

“Pfft! You’re no fun!” She sticks her tongue out at him and leans back, tossing her head back. The grin is still firmly entrenched on her face though. “Are you dating anyone right now? You know that guy, Jiwook? From the third class?” Her nose wrinkles. “He’d been telling everyone that you tried to come on to him because he’s an alpha.”

"Okay, that is a complete and categorical _ lie,_" spits Yunho with conviction, and his demeanor suddenly changes. "He's the one harassing _ me_, and literally all I want from him is for him to stay away from me."

“That’s not how he told it.” Her grin turns apologetic and she shakes her head after exchanging a look with her friend. “Of course, _ we _ don’t believe him, but he has his little fanclub kissing up to him and they’re, like, dumb enough to just believe whatever he says. You should watch out for them.”

Yunho blinks again. "Oh," he manages. He eyes Changmin, who has his eyebrows raised, and turns back to the girls with a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

Once the girls have finally left Yunho alone — Changmin doesn’t want to know why they’re giggling like _ that_, he goes to the older boy and jerks his chin towards them. “What was that all about?”

Yunho looks up at him and gives a half-smile, almost apologetically. “They… wanted to know if it’s true that I’m an omega.” He sees Changmin’s face harden, and he adds, “Because they wanted to know if I was also gay.”

Changmin blinks, isn’t sure if he’d heard Yunho right. “They want to know… if you’re— gay?” His brows crease with confusion. And indignation. “What the hell?”

“Don’t ask me,” says Yunho with his palms up and shoulders shrugging, still a bit amused. Amused and a bit grateful, because if that’s all that the girls think is different about him now that they know he’s an omega, that’s _ really _ not so bad. Especially since they’re actually right. “I have no idea.”

A quick glance at the girls in question, who seems to be staring at them with this kind of odd intensity that makes Changmin’s skin crawl, he turns back to Yunho. “I think you should steer clear from them.” He almost places his hand on Yunho’s, to twine their fingers together, but remembers at the last second that they’re in school. And that they still have this unresolved issue with Jiwook. “You’re okay? Should we call Appa and tell him about the asshole?”

Yunho hesitates. He _ hates _ that somehow, Jiwook has been able to sexually harass him, _ again,_ and that his hands were tied, and he wasn’t able to defend himself. Hates even more how much he let Jiwook affect him today. But what is his father going to do right now? He’s at work, and being an omega has been disruptive enough already. “We can tell him when we get home,” murmurs Yunho. 

“I don’t like him knowing,” Changmin grunts, fingers curling into a loose fist on the desk. His eyes have taken on a stormy look. “Who knows what he’d do with the knowledge.”

“Well,” says Yunho with a sigh. “Me neither. But he already knows, and he’s already told everyone. And there’s nothing Appa can do to make everyone un-remember the fact that I’m an omega.”

Changmin goes absolutely, deathly _ still._ “_He told everyone?"_

Yunho’s a bit surprised, since he assumed that Changmin figured it out already. “Yeah. He’s… he’s told everyone. That’s why the girls came up to me, to ask if it’s true. And also why that girl that I don’t even know elbowed into me this morning,” he muses as he makes the connection.

Changmin would’ve asked ‘_what girl_’ but there’s a lot more static in his head than reasonable thoughts right now. His only concern is to get to Han Jiwook and show him what would happen once he decided to mess around with Changmin’s family. His _ mate_. Changmin nods, apropos of nothing, and turns around without saying anything to Yunho. He strides towards the door, the expression on his face so thunderous that he parts the rest of their classmates on his way out. 

Yunho’s a bit disoriented that Changmin just leaves in the middle of the conversation that he just sits there blankly for a couple seconds, then snaps to his senses and chases after the younger boy. “Wait,” he says, closing his hand around Changmin’s forearm. “Changmin — wait, where are you going?”

“He has no right—” Changmin’s voice is sharpened steel, not even looking at Yunho. He doesn’t stop and pays no heed to the curious glances he gets from the students milling in the hallway. “I’m going to make sure that he won’t say anything about you again.” His fists clench and unclench, and it’s clear that he intends to break Jiwook’s mouth to deliver that warning. 

“Changmin! Changmin. Just. Calm down.” Yunho steps around so that he’s positioned between Changmin and his future path, one that will lead to broken bones. “Okay. Just.” He puts one hand on Changmin’s chest to push him back and holds the other one up. The younger boy still looks furious, but Yunho looks into his eyes. “Changmin. If we get into trouble again, you can kiss your Yonsei scholarship goodbye, and I probably won’t get in _ anywhere_. And we’re not going to get into the same university. _ Don’t let Han Jiwook do that to us._”

“I don’t give a fuck about the scholarship,” he grits out, eyes flashing with a promise of violence. He’s going to take the CSATs with Yunho if he has to and they’ll find another university, doesn’t matter which one. He’s pretty sure Yanghyun, at the very least, would understand. He tries to shoulder past Yunho, muttering a low, growling, “And _ you _ stay out of this, hyung.”

“No, Changmin, please, _ for me_,” pleads Yunho, and steps into his path again. “I hate him too. But I am _ not _ going to give him the satisfaction that he managed to take _ anything _ away from either of us.”

“He deserves it!” Changmin’s raised voice turns heads towards them and he dismisses them with a level glare. His entire attention is now focused on Yunho, whose insistence to stop him is nigh incomprehensible to Changmin’s overriding protective instincts. All he wants to do is to keep Yunho safe and putting Jiwook to his rightful place, that scum-sucking bottom feeder, will ensure that. “He should’ve left you alone.”

"Yes, yes, you're right, a million times over," soothes Yunho. Changmin's still looking angrier than Yunho ever remembers, and he wraps his arms around Changmin for a tight hug. "We'll resolve this with the pack's support behind us. We'll make sure he pays for it." He runs his hand up and down Changmin's back.

It’s a struggle for Changmin to keep his emotions under control, running high from a combination of his own entrenched dislike for the other alpha and this current transgression, but Yunho’s presence manages to anchor him in place. Changmin’s hands come around Yunho to return the hug, inhaling the sweet, calming scent deeply and feeling the pounding of his heart easing up. “Okay,” he says, letting Yunho go when he feels too many eyes on them. “Okay, we’ll do that. But if he tries anything again—”

The threat lingers there, like the swinging of a hangman’s noose. 

"Yeah," agrees Yunho. "When we're not at school. I'll definitely kick his ass with you." He glances up at the other students, and then smiles at Changmin. "Okay. I'll buy you some chocolate milk before the next class starts. And strawberry milk. We can even mix them and make chocolate-strawberry milk."

Changmin wrinkles his nose. The idea of strawberry-chocolate milk sounds absolutely gross, but it’s not like he can say so when faced with Yunho’s bright grin. To say that Yunho has an eclectic taste when it comes to consumables would be an understatement. “Uh. Yeah, sure. That’d be nice.” He nudges at Yunho, starting to herd him out of the class. Some of the other students are looking a little bit too invested. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Yunho nods and obliviously links his arm with Changmin's. "Okay, let's go," he says cheerfully. He's relieved at having diverted the potential crisis, and also feeling a million times stronger with Changmin here. No matter what's going to happen from then on, he feels like he'll be able to go through with it if Changmin's there too.

They walk to the cafeteria together and buy a carton of strawberry milk and one of chocolate milk. They don't have time to drink it there, and Yunho's afraid that they might not even have time to mix the drinks. Changmin, sensing that he doesn’t have to subject himself to the frankenstein drink of Yunho’s creation, quickly plucks the chocolate milk from Yunho’s fingers. No matter how much he loves the older boy, his digestive system has yet to grow impervious to Yunho’s experimentations. There’s a reason why Changmin’s in charge of cooking when they’re left alone.

“I have training today,” Changmin says, around the straw tucked into the corner of his mouth. “You’ll wait for me, right?”

Yunho watches as Changmin drinks down the milk like someone who hasn't had anything to drink for weeks. He doesn't even get the chance to ask if he wants the mix. Changmin probably forgot. Yunho doesn't want Changmin to feel bad about forgetting, so he decides to drop the topic and opens his carton of strawberry milk instead. "Yeah, I wanna walk home with you. I'll set up shop with my books by the pool."

A pleased grin uncurls across Changmin’s face. It’s been a while since they spend this much time together, what’s with Yunho’s self-imposed studying schedule, and he isn’t about to squander any of it. “We can continue your swimming lesson later,” he adds, cheekily. 

Yunho snorts. "You know I only have two and a half months to go until my CSAT."

Changmin pouts. “So? That’s a long two and a half months.” 

Yunho shakes his head. "There's no time to waste on swimming lessons, silly," says Yunho with a grin, and then he flicks Changmin's nose playfully.

He snaps at the fingers, catching thin air. Changmin tosses the empty carton into a recycling bin and decides to leave it at that, knowing how important it is for Yunho to test in the higher percentile. He isn’t about to jeopardise Yunho’s hard work, no matter how much he thinks Yunho needs the break. Walking past an empty washroom, Changmin grabs Yunho’s wrist and drags him inside, locking both of them in the furthest stall. Eyes crinkling from his lopsided smirk, Changmin presses Yunho to the door and leans in to rub their noses together.

"Do you have time for this, then?” he asks, running his hands down Yunho’s side. 

"Changmin…" Yunho whines. "My… my milk…"

Changmin’s laughter echoes around them and he plucks the carton out of Yunho’s hand before it spills over their uniforms, placing it on top of the toilet tank. He noses at Yunho’s jaw, inhaling deeply. “I’ll buy you another one.” He starts to pull at Yunho’s shirt, untucking it so he can get his hands on more warm skin. “Whatever you want.”

He’d only partially succeeded when they hear the door bangs open outside, followed by several voices loudly laughing at something. Changmin locks eyes with Yunho and slowly raises a finger to his lips. 

Yunho stifles a giggle. They both smile mischievously, and Yunho pulls the younger boy’s finger out of the way of their lips. They’ve never fooled around like this at school before and they don’t have much time left in this recess, but how can they resist, after such a long time away from each other?

Changmin's grin grows on his face when he realises that Yunho's playing along and that he might have an exhibitionist streak after all. The thrill of doing this at school, at the possibility of being caught with Yunho somehow make him even bolder. Changmin shuffles backwards, tugging at Yunho's belt loops so that they're moving at the same time. The guys outside are talking shit about some of the teachers and veers into a discussion about the tests they'll be taking later. Changmin lowers the toilet lid slowly and sits on it, arranging Yunho astride his lap. 

He looks up at the older boy, eyes crinkling with suppressed laughter. "Aren't you gonna kiss me?" he whispers.

Yunho shakes his head playfully, at least until Changmin feigns an expression of hurt, and Yunho laughs silently before holding onto the collar of Changmin’s uniform with his fingers and kissing the younger boy. The excitement of this is making Yunho practically shake, and a very, very small part of him that he doesn’t even understand himself even wishes that they get caught walking out of the stall together.

Just so everyone knows that _ Shim Changmin loves me, and I love him too._

Changmin runs his hands under Yunho’s shirts, feeling the fine tremors and muscles jump underneath his palms, and gentles the kiss. He takes his time with Yunho hunched over him, heedless of the sound of conversation outside and the loud pounding of his heart inside his chest. The world has narrowed down to the slide of Yunho’s lips against his, the breath they’re sharing and how Yunho has his eyes closed as he opens his mouth for Changmin, sweet and pliant and oh so giving. He can’t get enough of it. The lid creaks when Changmin bucks up, jostling Yunho closer and an aborted sound slips through his mouth, before he clamps it shut. They stiffen, waiting to see if they’ve been found out, but the conversation outside goes on without a hitch. Changmin’s smothering his laughter into the older boy’s lips when he hears Yunho’s name being mentioned. 

“You heard about Yunho, right?” There’s water running, before it abruptly cuts off. “Who woulda thought he’s an omega bitch.”

Laughter. “_Shiiiiiit._” More laughter and someone’s banged into one of the stalls further up. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t care whatever hole I’m sticking my dick into s’long as it’s nice and wet.”

Yunho freezes, and he feels his face growing hot. He feels like crawling into a hole, and wishes that Changmin would disappear, so that he doesn't have to hear this. He can't even meet the younger boy's eyes with all the shame, and all that he can do is keep himself from whimpering as best he can.

Changmin’s hands are fists before he realises it. He takes an angry shuddering breath, his entire body a tight coil of tension threatening to snap at any given second. His eyes flicker to Yunho, to the expression on Yunho’s face and the fists get tighter. Nails digging so hard into his palm that he might’ve cut his skin open. He tries to get up, only that Yunho’s weight is keeping him anchored to place and when he tries again, Yunho starts shaking his head frantically. As if this isn’t much, much worse than Jiwook telling every fucking one about Yunho — to have to hear those filthy things being said, as if Yunho is nothing more than a pretty piece of meat. When he has so much good and is so much better than anyone else Changmin had ever known. These assholes have no right to be talking about Yunho like this. He grits his teeth, unclenching his hands so he can bodily remove Yunho from his lap and break some faces, but the next thing they hear makes him stop. 

“You think they’re fucking?”

“Who? Changmin and Yunho?”

“Oh fuck. Isn’t that incest? That’s gross!”

A scoff. “They’re not real siblings, dumbass. But, dude—” The laughter is back, crude and cutting. “Bet Changmin fucked him before. If I’ve got a sweet omega ass on tap, I’m not gonna waste that free real estate. Just put a paper bag over his head and pretends it’s a pussy. There's no difference."

Guffawing laughter echoes inside the bathroom before the sound of footsteps move away from them, and within seconds, the bathroom is empty again. 

It's a combination of horror, shame, and relief when the others leave, and silence falls between the two boys as they take in exactly what just happened. After wishing so much that Changmin would never hear such crude, dirty words, here they were, so soon, before Yunho would even have the chance to prepare Changmin for this. Prepare him for anything even _ close _ to this.

Yunho stands silently, opens the stall door and walks out with no preamble; he doesn't want to waste empty words to convince either of them that they're okay, because they're not, and it's _ all because he's an omega, _ and he hates it.

Changmin’s brain hasn’t even finished processing the sheer volume of fury that’s pumping through his veins when Yunho leaves him behind, disappears much too quickly before Changmin can stop him. He scrambles to his feet and runs after Yunho, catching the older boy’s wrist in one hand. “Hyung—” Yunho has stopped, but he refuses to turn around and face Changmin. Worry eclipsed everything else inside his head, as those ugly words ring loudly in the silence between them. “They’re _ wrong._ They don’t know shit about you, about us—”

"We're going to be late for class," says Yunho quietly. His fingernails are digging into the palms of his hands, and he pulls his wrist out of Changmin's grip before walking as quickly as he can towards their classroom. He just wants to be left alone, and he doesn't want Changmin to even look at him. Every fibre of his being regrets coming to school today, and wishes he could leave, and never come back. 

The shock of being brushed off, by _ Yunho._ leaves Changmin rooted in place. It's only for a few seconds, but it's enough time to allow Yunho to get beyond Changmin's reach. He hurries after the older boy, trying to catch up to him and make this right somehow. Because none of the things they heard is true. Yunho isn't _ just _ an omega. Or any of those other derogatory terms they'd used. Only that Changmin doesn't get the chance when he realises that their teacher is already inside the classroom. He ducks his head in apology when she reprimands him for being late and goes to his seat, his heart plummeting into the pit of his stomach when he tries to catch Yunho's eyes, only to see him looking down at his table. Stiff-backed and unsmiling, with an expression Changmin can't quite read. 

To think that they've been so happy to be together again. 

A fresh wave of fury threatens to swallow him whole and he thinks about those guys in the bathroom, about Jiwook spilling Yunho's secret. Changmin's fingers curl into fists.

There would be hell to pay. He'd make sure of that.

  
  


.

  
  


Yunho drops his bag down on the floor carelessly as soon as he steps into his house with Jihye close behind. It's by far, no doubt, one of the worst days of school he's ever had — so much so that in his haste to get home, he didn't even keep his promise with Changmin to watch his swim practice. His entire being was focused on getting home that Jihye yelling for him to wait up and not walk so quickly so far ahead fell on deaf ears.

His mother rounds the corner from the kitchen on his way upstairs, smiling, and starting to ask, "How was your day?" but her smile falters as Yunho ignores her and makes his way straight to his room. The door closes a little bit too loudly, and he locks it.

He wants to talk to _ no one_, and he wants to hide here, in the safety of his room, in his bed, _ alone_. And just stay like that forever. Here, where he knows he won't have to hear such hurtful things about him or face the people he cares about, for as long as it takes for everyone to forget that he exists.

The tears that he'd been holding for the entire day finally fall, and for once, he naturally shifts to his wolf and curls up on his bed, for no other purpose besides to comfort himself, and himself only.

Jihye drops her bag into her room, before striding to Yunho’s. She tests the doorknob to find it locked and lets out a frustrated sigh, running fingers through her hair and pushing it back from her forehead. In all honesty, she doesn’t know how she hasn’t picked up on the gossips circulating around her brother all this week, when she’s usually the first to know about anything that’s going on in the school. The only reason she finally caught wind of it is because she overheard a couple of her classmates giggling over her brothers. Again. And instead of the usual harmless ‘are they or are they not’, they’re talking about Changmin being Yunho’s alpha. _ When no one in school is supposed to know._ The whole story came out quickly once she confronted them and the next thing she knows, one half of her brothers is now locked inside his own room.

She knows presenting as an omega hasn’t been easy for Yunho. The unexpected heat, the subsequent tension between her family members, especially with her father and brothers. But she thought they’ve finally put everything behind them and things would go back to normal — well, as normal as it can be, with Yunho and Changmin being even more disgustingly in love than usual. 

And now _ this._

“Oppa!” Jihye knocks on the door a couple times, volume rising with the frequency of her fist hitting the wood. Her stomach twists, expecting the worst. “C’mon, open up! Oppa!”

The door remains firmly locked, but Mihyun comes up from behind her, brows furrowed with worry. "Jihye — honey, what’s going on?"

Jihye bites her lip and lowers her arm, turning to face her mother. She’s equal parts angry and worried enough about the whole situation that she blurts out, “The entire school knows. That Oppa’s an omega.”

It's not necessarily something Mihyun is expecting to hear, but in a way, it's also not something that surprises her; she hadn't expected it to happen so soon, and while they have been taking all the necessary precautions, they couldn't have kept it a secret forever. Mihyun sighs and wraps an arm around Jihye's shoulders. "Let's give your brother some space. Come on, Jihye, help me with dinner."

“But, Umma—” 

Jihye’s protest trails off as she is being coaxed away by Mihyun and she throws a glance over her shoulder at the closed door, still frowning. She doesn’t understand why her mother isn’t more worried, when Yunho obviously isn’t taking it well. Once they’re downstairs, Jihye frowns at her mother, arms crossed. 

“We should talk to him,” she says, adamant that they should get Yunho out of the room. “We can’t just leave him alone!” 

“He needs space,” says Mihyun. She’s equally as worried for Yunho as Jihye is, but she trusts her oldest son, and none of them will be able to quite understand what he’s going through right now. And certainly, he needs time to process it. This is a moment that Mihyun hoped would not cross Yunho’s paths for many more years, but in a way, she’s grateful that it happened while Yunho’s still living with them, and not after he’s moved out of the house for university.

She knows how cruel children can be, but at least she and the rest of the family can be here to support Yunho when he needs it. Well, realizes that he wants it.

“Jihye —” Mihyun pulls her daughter into the living room and sits her down on the couch, then takes the seat next to her. “Your brother can get through this. I know how much you care for him, but he just needs time to understand how this will change things. And yes, you’re being a wonderful sister, like always, but I think this time, he’ll do better to have some time alone.”

A part of Jihye wants to disagree with that — they’re a _ family_, they’re supposed to work through this together. She can’t say that she understands what her brother is going through, being a beta herself and not subject to the kind of scrutiny omegas do, but there must be some way she can protect him. Or make things easier. It’s unfair how Yunho’s subject to such a horrendous treatment, when he can’t help being who he is, biologically. However, a larger part of her concedes that her mother knows better. She has to be and once her father hears about this, they will fix it. They always do. Jihye lets out a frustrated sigh and goes to the kitchen table, where her mother had been in the midst of preparing japchae. By the time she hears the sound of a car outside, they’re already starting on marinating the beef slices for bulgogi. 

“What smells so good?” comes Yanghyun’s jovial voice, before he emerges into the kitchen. His wide grin falters when he sees Jihye staring intently at him. He raises his eyebrows at his wife, who’s wiping her hands on a dish towel. “What? What did I do?”

Mihyun opens her mouth to try to start to explain, but before she can start, the front door bangs open, and Changmin storms inside in a way that he’s never done before. He flings his bag across the floor, and barely kicks off his shoes at the door. Yanghyun wheels around to stare at Changmin, brows creasing into a disapproving frown. 

“What’s wrong with _ you_?” He shakes his head at the discarded bag and haphazard shoes strewn all over. Sometimes, he doesn’t understand teenagers and their mood swings. “And pick your things up, for heaven’s sake. Your mother doesn’t spend the whole day cleaning for you to come home like this.”

It’s not often for Changmin to ignore Yanghyun’s disapproval, but he does this time. He merely straightens and demands, “Where’s Yunho-hyung?”

“Young man, pick up your bag, and your shoes. Right now,” orders Yanghyun sternly. It’s almost a reflex, when all he wants to do is eat dinner and then cuddle with his wife as he pretends to watch whatever drama she’s currently into. Why does he have to deal with temperamental teenagers after a long day at work dealing with unreasonable adults? This is not the life his ten year old self had envisioned for himself. “This is not how we do things in this house.”

Changmin clenches his jaw, eyes flashing a deep golden colour for a half-second at Yanghyun’s reprimand. It’s almost a challenge, one alpha to another, and it’s only the barest sliver of self-restraint that keeps him from going forward with that. He snatches the bag from the floor and kicks the shoes into a semblance of order, doesn’t bother putting them into their proper place because he has a more pressing matter to attend to. Yunho hadn’t waited at the end of school, after refusing to talk or even look at him throughout the day. This is shaping up to be one of the top contenders of the absolute fucking _ worst _ day of Changmin’s life. He couldn’t get out of practice, not when the coach would flip his shit, and he’d messed up his timings during laps so badly he got yelled at anyway. 

And he _ needs _ to be with Yunho. “Where’s Yunho-hyung?” he repeats, gritting out the words like he has rocks inside his mouth. 

Yanghyun ignores the question, realising that his oldest son is somehow related to Changmin's current temper tantrum. He'd thought that they're on good terms now. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Remember the asshole that harassed Yunho-hyung before? Han Jiwook?" Changmin spits out the name, eyes narrowing dangerously. "That fucker told everyone at school that hyung's an omega. _ After _ he got his hands on Yunho-hyung."

It feels as if a rush of cold water has displaced the blood in Yanghyun's veins and he even overlooks Changmin's use of profanity in favour of studying his youngest son. "Are you certain?" At Changmin's jerky nod, he clenches his fists. Slowly places his briefcase on the table. "Mihyun, have you heard about this?"

Mihyun takes a deep breath. “Parts of it,” she manages, anger flaring up inside her own being; she hadn’t known that Yunho’s been touched inappropriately again, and it _ infuriates _ her. That anyone would think of his son as anything less than the absolutely wonderful person that he is, that he deserves to be treated as anything less, just because he’s an omega.

Yanghyun nods. He's staring at nothing in particular, jaw working tightly. "Changmin, Jihye, go to your rooms. We'll call you down for dinner later. Your mother and I need to talk."

Changmin opens his mouth to protest. "But Yunho-hyung—"

“He’s probably exhausted and sleeping. Give him a bit of time alone, sweetheart,” says Mihyun, running a comforting hand along his shoulders. “Go on, get upstairs.”

It's not something Changmin likes to hear, since his every instinct tells him that he needs to be with Yunho. He heeds the last part of Mihyun's order though and bounds up the stairs, not waiting to see if Jihye's following him. He stops at Yunho's door and tries it only to find it locked. After a few knocks that are left unanswered, he pulls out his phone and starts typing.

_ let me in. pls. _

Yunho barely moves his head from where he’s been resting it on his paws to look at his phone screen lighting up, and Changmin’s message coming through. He sighs and curls in tighter on himself. He doesn’t want to look at Changmin right now; it’s too painful and far too humiliating, especially knowing what he heard from the other boys. So he just ignores him, and closes his eyes again, shutting out the rest of the world — including even Changmin.

Changmin keeps staring at the screen of his phone, at the '1' over his message that remains stubbornly there even after minutes. He starts knocking again, more desperately this time and calls out Yunho's name through the thin wood. He would've kept going on and on if not for Jihye, who takes pity on him and pretty much pushes him bodily away from the door. She might be shorter and much more petite than him, but that doesn't stop her from trying.

"You should go and change," she says, purposely ignoring the glare he levels on her. She knows how upset Changmin is, but he's not thinking straight. And while she wants to see Yunho as well, she's starting to think that their mother is right. Maybe he just needs space right now. "You're not being useful to anyone like this."

"He needs me," Changmin growls, staring Jihye down. "I have to talk to him."

"Not right now." It's like trying to reason with a brick wall. She wraps an arm around Changmin's and tugs at him again. "Later. Alright?"

Another growl rumbles at the back of Changmin's throat and he keeps staring at the closed door. Feeling rejected, to think that Yunho would push him away as if he can offer no comfort to the older boy. As if he's useless. And he is, isn't he? He couldn't protect Yunho from Jiwook the first time and he couldn't do anything this time either. _ Useless. _What kind of an alpha would he be if he can't protect his loved ones? No wonder Yunho doesn't want to see his face. He shrugs Jihye off and trudges to his room, head down. Wondering if there's anything he can do to make this right again. 

To show Yunho that it doesn't matter what the rest of the world says: Changmin will always love him as he is, omega or not. 

.

Yunho weakly climbs out of bed quietly. He’s been in one position for the entire time since he got home, never having left his room at all. He’s still in his wolf, and he’s not sure why it felt so comfortable and _ okay _ for so long — it’s been _ years _ since he felt like it was okay to be in his wolf — but he’s starting to feel a bit uncomfortable again, like his skin is starting to crawl. He shifts back to human and takes a couple seconds to reorient himself to the height difference. He wants to walk around, stretch his limbs, but he hadn’t wanted to face his family. Instead, he waited for them to all fall asleep before finally allowing himself to leave his room. Maybe get a glass of water.

He tiptoes to his door quietly and pulls it open silently. 

It's not quite morning yet, but not quite night either. It's the pale nothingness of the hours between and the only source of light comes from downstairs. That's the only reason Yunho almost walks right into Changmin, who is curled up, asleep, in front of the door. His wolf form is a large bundle of dark grey fur in the half-light, head resting on his front paws and tail tucked around his hind legs. He hadn't even bothered grabbing a cushion to make himself more comfortable and must've been exhausted to not stir awake when the door swings open. It's easy to see the fine lines of weariness that had carved themselves deep into Changmin's face and Yunho swallows down a sudden hitching breath when he wonders how long Changmin has waited for him. The lump in his throat threatens to make his eyes water and he lowers himself to the floor, sitting cross-legged right in front of Changmin. 

He touches Changmin's face, fingertips lightly grazing the raised line of his muzzle, and Changmin startles awake. 

"Hey," he says, gently. Large golden eyes blink at him, chasing away any residual sleep and Yunho’s heart aches when Changmin makes a quiet noise not unlike a whimper. "You should be in bed."

Changmin raises himself to all four and pads closer to Yunho, but stops short from climbing into Yunho’s lap like he would’ve usually done. “_I won’t leave you._”

Yunho feels his eyes welling up with tears again, and he reaches up to frame Changmin’s face with his hands. Then he puts their noses together. “Thank you,” he whispers as the tears fall, and he tries to wipe them quickly with his hands, but Changmin gets there first, licking them away. “I just… don’t want you to be upset because of me. And I’m sad, because I — I want you to think I’m okay, but — but I’m _ this,_ and —” _ I’m so confused about what I’m feeling. _

The taste of salt on his tongue has barely dissipated before Changmin shifts, finding hands more useful than paws right at that moment. He can’t even start disputing Yunho’s words (_there’s nothing wrong with you, there’s never anything wrong with you_), not when something raw and desperate is trying to claw its way out of his chest. Taking hold of Yunho at the shoulders, Changmin pulls him against him and buries his face in Yunho’s neck. He breathes in Yunho’s scent and lays an open-mouthed kiss over the flutter of his pulse, tender and worshipful. He then firmly tilts Yunho’s face and ducks down to cover Yunho’s mouth with his own. It’s not a perfect kiss. It’s too forceful, too much of a demand, but all Changmin’s demanding is for Yunho to stop doubting himself and to think of everything they’ve fought for instead. Changmin kisses him until he feels Yunho’s hands curl against his chest. He covers those hands with his and breaks the kiss. A little breathless, still leaning in close towards Yunho. 

“It doesn’t matter. You’re the same person you were five, ten years ago. You’re the same person I’ve loved in my entire lifetime and nothing can change that.” Changmin brings his hands up to curve around Yunho’s jaw, holding him in place. “I love _ you_, hyung. All of you.”

Yunho swallows and looks down at the floor uncertainly. “I hate that I’m burdening you like this,” he whispers. “And I hate that I make you feel anything other than happy.” Because _ happy _ is the only thing that Changmin deserves to feel, and he shouldn’t have to feel sad, or angry, or anything else. And the fact that Yunho is making him feel any of those things weighs on him like a thousand bricks.

Changmin’s brows furrow. “I don’t want _ just _ ‘happy’. That’s not how this works.” He drops his hands, frowns darkening as he tries to figure out where he’d gone wrong. The thought of Yunho being convinced that he’s _ obligated _ to make Changmin happy is like a punch to the solar plexus and it’s hard to breath through that. “Mates are supposed to share everything? Can’t you trust me with yours?” 

“I can trust you with everything, I just — wish you didn’t have to be upset, especially if it's because of me,” says Yunho. He still feels guilty about all of this, but Changmin squeezes his hand. Yunho feels the tension dissipating, if only just a little, and he looks up into Changmin’s eyes. “I just… love you. A lot.”

“I love you too.” _ More than you can ever imagine_. Changmin presses their foreheads together, closing his eyes to concentrate on the sound of their breathing. He thinks about telling Yunho how much he _ does not _ mind being upset on Yunho’s behalf, that it isn’t Yunho’s fault people are assholes and if he has to fight against the world for the older boy, he would. A hundred and twenty percent. He pulls away, brushing a kiss between Yunho’s eyebrows before he gets too far. “What were you doing? Sneaking out?”

Yunho's stomach lets out a well-timed growl loud enough for them both to hear, and Yunho lets out an embarrassed, watery laugh. “I was getting hungry.”

Changmin has to stifle a bark of laughter, to not wake everyone else up. He gets to his feet and holds out a hand for Yunho, smiling down at him. “I could use a snack myself.”

Yunho laughs as he firmly puts his hand in Changmin's and gets to his feet — it's just like Changmin to be able to eat even if he's just woken up in the middle of the night, but it feels even better to see Changmin smiling like this. After all, this is all he wants — for both of them to be happy.

.

**tbc**

.


	14. Chapter 14

.

For as long as Changmin can remember, the pack meeting is held in the local park and tonight is no different. The air is already thick with the smell of thick slabs of meat sizzling away on the grill when they arrive. Members of wolf families around the neighbourhood are milling around, carrying paper plates loaded with food. Clumps of them are sitting at the picnic tables, carrying out lively conversations over the shrieks of laughter from where most of the kids are chasing one another. Jihye bounds off to join her friends and their parents drift towards their own circle, leaving Changmin and Yunho to find a place to settle. 

The main reason Changmin doesn't miss pack meetings is because of the food and his mouth is starting to water as he surveys the night's offering. He wants at least three sandwich buns of Mrs Kim's pulled pork before he starts on anything else. Yunho only laughs when Changmin makes a beeline for the buffet table, where he piles as much food as possible onto a flimsy plate. He drops his plate to an empty table and goes off to get them drinks, only to get waylaid by Minho and a couple others.

By the time he gets back to Yunho, the older boy is too busy talking to one of the younger cubs about a dance program during the school break that he hasn't touched the food on his plate. Changmin nods at the girl as he takes his seat and nudges an elbow gently into Yunho's side.

"You should eat something first, hyung."

"Oh, yeah," says Yunho distractedly. To be honest, he's a bit anxious about this meeting and he's not too hungry with the butterflies in his stomach. This is the meeting in which the announcement will be made officially to the pack about his status, and although most of them would have heard already through the grapevine, it's still _ scary_, even for someone as extroverted as Yunho. He forces a small piece of meat into his mouth and chews to placate Changmin, but puts his fork down again soon.

It’s not often for Changmin to not fall upon the food at the first given opportunity, but he can sense Yunho’s unease and it niggles at the back of his head. “Are you okay?” He peers at Yunho’s face, raising his eyebrows. “You’re not nervous, are you?”

"I mean, almost everyone already knows," reasons Yunho, really to convince himself more than anything. "I have nothing to be nervous about."

The little girl that was asking Yunho about dance classes has somehow made her way onto Yunho's lap, and another two cubs are approaching them (or really, more like, _ Yunho_) and Yunho points to Changmin's plate with his chin. "Eat, before the food gets cold."

Changmin snorts and, taking a quick look around to see if anyone older’s watching, presses a kiss to Yunho’s cheek. It’s a small offer of comfort and he watches the stiff lines of Yunho’s shoulders loosen, even more so when he’s suddenly surrounded by cubs clamouring for his attention. They’ve always gravitated towards Yunho, demanding him to tell them stories or to play, and Changmin is now relegated to the sidelines. Which means he gets to dig into the heaping pile on his plate, right up until he catches sight of their parents beckoning at them. The elders of the pack are standing together with Yanghyun and Mihyun, staring expectantly at him. Or rather, at Yunho. Changmin bumps his shoulder with Yunho’s, who’s busy making dinosaur noises at the cubs rolling around his ankles.

“I think they want to see you.” Changmin licks at his fingers, intent on joining them. If only for the moral support, not that it’s of any use. “It’ll be fine, hyung. They just want to make it official.”

Yunho feels his stomach twisting up into a knot, and thinks this is _ totally unfair_, because this never happens for alphas or betas. Why does _ he _ have to be the only one to have his secondary gender be announced to the pack like this? It's not even something to be proud of, in fact, it's so embarrassing that he can barely keep his head up as he stands slowly from where he's sitting, having to step around the little cubs.

Changmin catches Yunho's wrist and tugs him back a little, smiling widely at the older boy. "It'll be fine," he repeats, holding Yunho's eyes. "I'm here with you." 

He mouths an _ I love you _ to punctuate the sentiment.

Yunho has half a mind to just _ elope _ with Changmin, but he is a prisoner of society, after all, and can't. He takes reluctant steps towards his parents and the elders, and when he decides he's close enough, he bows. "Hi," he says, and he's barely audible. He is dreading the absolute worst — though he's not even sure what the absolute worst is. But he's sure it will extend beyond his imagination.

"Yunho," Yanghyun nods, patting a hand over Yunho's back to reel him in closer. He can read the discomfort on Yunho's face and he understands how his son might feel under these conditions — presenting privately to one's family is one thing, but to present to the entire pack is another. If he's given the choice, Yanghyun wouldn't have opted for this, but the pack has traditions and they're obligated to follow them. With the pack's acknowledgement comes protection and Yunho would only benefit from that. Yanghyun exchanges a look with his wife and gently nudges Yunho towards the elders. "They're ready for you, son."

Mihyun smiles at Yunho, reaching out to grasp his hand in her own. She pulls him into a hug and whispers, "I'm proud of you, Yunho. And I love you."

Yunho feels like he's being sent off to war.

He takes a deep breath and takes another reluctant step forward towards the elders. He clasps his hands together and stares at the ground, just waits forinstructions, comments, _ anything. _

"Come closer," one of the elders says, a hint of amusement in his voice. Kang Dongmin's the oldest of the three, his hair gone silvery white and his face leathered from a lifetime spent under the sun. He is officially the head of the pack and the heart of it as well. Highly regarded and respected by the rest of the community, he works tirelessly to keep the pack integrated into the much larger human population around them. "We're not going to bite."

The woman next to him cackles, the crow feet around her eyes deepening as she looks at him. Yunho recognises her as the owner of the local butchery and remembers how when they were kids, how Changmin and him would often get treats when they accompanied Mihyun there. "If you ask nicely."

"Hyeja!" The other woman of the group shoots her an exasperated look, before she turns to smile reassuringly at Yunho. She looks the youngest, with streaks of grey in her otherwise dark, perfectly-coiffed hair. Jang Miran holds a position in the governor's office and works the closest with Yanghyun, and she's been over for dinner a few times with her own mate. "Don't be afraid, Yunho. We just want to re-introduce you to the pack; it's been years since our last male omega and this is a joyous occasion." The rest nod as she continues, "How are you feeling?"

_ Not so joyous_, thinks Yunho, but his mouth seems to have some control, and he says instead, "Fine." He's never been this scared at a pack meeting before, but he nods. "I'm okay. I'm just… nervous."

"Relax, kid. It's not like we're auctioning you off to the highest bidder," Hyeja scoffs, hands on her hips. There's a shrewd glint in her eyes when she says, "You know that happened in the past, right? Hell, it's happening right now if you know where to look."

Yunho whimpers softly, and he slinks back without even knowing it — there is _ no way _ that this is a good idea, and he probably just should have stayed home. Maybe he should stay home for the rest of his life. As he takes a step back, his father's arm wraps around Yunho's shoulders firmly. Dongmin shakes his head at the older woman. "Hyeja, please stop scaring him," he sighs, and Hyeja laughs again, apparently finding it so funny that she tilts her head back as she lets out the laughter.

"Oh, you really are an adorable one," Miran says, her eyes twinkling. "How precious."

"I just want a normal life," blurts out Yunho desperately. "I just want to finish school, get a job, get married, have a family, and just live a normal—"

The rest of Yunho's sentence is drowned out by laughter from the elders, and even his parents let out a small chuckle. The only people who aren't smiling are Yunho and Changmin. 

Changmin doesn't understand what's so funny, when Yunho is clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. The least they can do is ease him into it. He would like nothing more than to take the older boy away right then and there, but decorum dictates that he shouldn't. And can't. "What's wrong with wanting a normal life?" he asks, a bit too sharply if the looks he gets is of any indication. Changmin can feel his ears getting red but he stands his ground, standing closer to Yunho. 

Hyeja levels him a calculating look. The corner of her mouth lifts to reveal sharp canines when she smirks. "Oh ho, you're a feisty one, ain't you?" Her eyes flicker to Yunho and the smirk lengthens, a knowing tilt to it. "Pity. I had half a mind to introduce you to my nephew."

Yunho gasps outwardly, and all worry forgotten, his face flushes. He glances at Changmin, who looks like he's about to break something. "No, thank you," says Yunho quickly with a nervous smile. "I'm… not really looking to date. With the CSATs coming up and all."

Hyeja clicks her tongue, but it's Dongmin that comes to Yunho's rescue. "There will be none of your match-making tonight," he tells her, a mild rebuke she waves off with a scoff. To Yunho, he says, "Do you know why it's important for you to be here tonight, young man?"

Yunho looks at his feet and nods. 

"Well?" prompts Dongmin, and Yunho bites his lip.

"So… so that everyone can know... what I am for the pack," mutters Yunho.

"It's much more than that." Miran smiles at him, and it's one that's echoed by the older wolves around them. "We've heard that you're having difficulties, finding out that you're an omega this late in your life. We want you to understand that this is not a burden, Yunho. It's a blessing. To you, your family, this pack." She winks at him. "Your future mate. However, what Hyeja said is true. Not everyone shares our sentiment when it comes to honouring the omegas."

Dongmin nods, clasping a hand to Yunho's shoulder. "You remain who you are, as you have always been. Only that now, you're so much more. You are the pack's and we protect our own."

Yunho feels some of the tension dissipating, for the first time, and even the corners of his lips turn upwards as he ducks his head. To hear that from the head of the pack himself is reassuring in itself — to hear that the pack will be asked not only to accept him, but also even to protect him. He can only be grateful that he belongs to this pack, and not the probably terrible one that Jiwook is in. Yunho looks up into Dongmin's eyes and whispers, "Thank you."

"It is our duty." Dongmin nods at Yanghyun and Mihyun, before he gestures Yunho to a clearing at the head of the picnic tables. "We should start, so we can go back to the feast. Yanghyun, if you will."

Yanghyun pats Yunho's back once, before he addresses the pack. It goes on much quicker than Changmin anticipates — their father talks about the work they have been doing in regards to the Equality Act, the Omega Protection Services that have been available in larger cities and how they aim to provide to the more rural areas, as well as the threats faced by omegas, either from human or their own kind. It's a sobering speech and Changmin can see the rapt attention given to Yanghyun. He surreptitiously steps towards Yunho and holds his hand, squeezing for a few seconds before letting go. And when their father beckons Yunho to come forward, Changmin joins in the applause. There are also a few cat-calls, but it's mostly harmless teasing from boys they've grown up with since they were small.

Yunho meets eyes with some members of the pack, but seeing the way they're looking at him like they are happy to have him, maybe even proud of him, he ducks his head and smiles shyly.

Thankfully, not much is expected of Yunho, and after standing next to his father and Dongmin for a few minutes, he's allowed to step back into his spot on the sidelines as before, next to Changmin. 

"That wasn't so bad now, was it," Hyeja murmurs, raising her eyebrows at Yunho. Dongmin's addressing the pack now and his voice carries the same reminder — to be mindful and respectful towards everyone, regardless of their status and station in life. "I don't stand for pomp and celebration, but this is good. The pack needs a reminder that omegas aren't just pretty playthings. We have high hopes for you." She flashes them a gummy smile. "Both of you."

Yunho exchanges a look with Changmin, isn't sure if Hyeja has noticed something between the two of them, in that short time. If that's the case, Yunho and Changmin must be really bad at keeping this secret. Or the elder is an extremely perceptive woman. Regardless, Yunho nods. "Thank you, really. I'm… I feel very fortunate."

Hyeja nods at them, before shuffling off with Miran towards one of the tables. Changmin watches them go, itching to get his arm around Yunho. He glances at him, his lips a thin, flat line. "If she tries to set you up with her nephew, I'm telling Umma." 

Yunho did think he would hear about that comment a bit later, but he's not quite expecting that, especially that '_I'm telling Umma' _ part, and he lets out a rather loud laughter in the relative quiet of the ceremony; his father and Dongmin both glance at him before they continue, as does pretty much every other member of the pack, and when Yunho quiets and looks at Changmin, he's grinning too. 

Yunho really _ is _ very fortunate — to have Changmin to always make him laugh, to have his protective pack to rely on. 

And for the first time in days, he finds himself thinking, _ this is all going to be okay_.

.

Yunho sits at his desk, staring blankly ahead. He knows he doesn't have time for this and should be studying, but he's finding it difficult to focus after the pack meeting. It's as if one problem always gets replaced by another, and he wonders if he's ever going to be able to work through them.

Changmin has strict instructions not to come into his room while Yunho's (supposed to be) studying, but Mihyun obviously doesn't; so when his mom comes in with a mug of tea and some cookies for him, Yunho's almost glad.

"How's studying going?" asks Mihyun mildly, patting the top of her son's head.

Yunho looks up at her, considering, then takes a deep breath. "Umma — can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course." Mihyun doesn't let the surprise of Yunho asking to creep into her voice, going to sit on the bed instead. Her son has been quiet ever since they arrived home from the park, but she chalked it up to lingering nerves. Maybe it's something more. She smiles at him, encouraging. "What is it?"

Yunho hesitates. "Umma… at the pack meeting. When we all shifted." He bites his lip. "It — it felt really, really bad. It's never felt so wrong."

The space between Mihyun’s brows creases into a frown of concern, and Yunho continues. “But you know, Friday, when I came back from school and locked myself in my room — that day, when I was in my room alone, I was in my wolf the whole time. And it felt really comfortable. And _ I don’t know why_.”

It's something they haven't worked out since the first time they talked about it and Mihyun feels a pang of guilt for not pushing for Yunho to see a therapist to discuss the issue. They've just been so busy with everything else that's happened that she had completely forgotten about it. Mihyun places a hand on Yunho's knee, leaning forward to be closer to him. "Did you find it easier to shift when you're alone?" She peers at him, concern and worry ever-present. "What had been different then?"

Yunho winces. “I don’t know, but Friday, when I shifted, I… I didn’t have that awful feeling — that awful feeling that something really, really bad is going to happen to… to Changmin.” He mulls it over a bit, then continues through the feeling of intense guilt. “Or maybe it was more that… I didn’t _ care_.”

"Changmin?" Mihyun can't really hide her surprise; she hadn't expected the younger boy's name to come up. "Sweetheart, why would something bad happen to Changmin if you shift?"

“I don’t know, I don’t get it, and it doesn’t make any sense,” explains Yunho, stumbling over his words. “I mean — sometimes, it’s the shifting itself that’s really uncomfortable, but other times, I really have this — this sense of _ doom _ around it, and it’s always about Changmin, and — it doesn’t make any sense, because he actually likes it when I’m in wolf.”

There's only so much that she can offer to him without actually understanding what he's going through, especially when it seems as though Yunho's struggles with his wolf form is somehow connected to Changmin. "Have you talked to him about this before? About how you feel when you shifted?"

Yunho shakes his head. “Not specifically. But maybe… it’s time I actually try to figure out what’s going on. And I want to fix this, because it felt so natural to be in wolf on Friday — and I forgot how much I missed it.”

"That's good." She exhales softly and smiles at him, squeezing his knee. "Do you think you'll be able to talk about this with someone from the centre? It will help, I'm sure."

Yunho nods and smiles. “I’d like that.”

"I'll call to arrange the time. Dahee should have a free slot this weekend for you." 

It wouldn't be easy, but it's important for Yunho to finally find out the root of his problem so he wouldn't have to feel so conflicted anymore. It pains her to know that he's still struggling and that she can do nothing more for him, even if she knows that her son is strong enough to work his way through this obstacle. It's been one thing after another, and she'd do everything in her power to spare Yunho further agony. Mihyun rises from the bed, leaning over to drop a kiss to the crown of Yunho's head. 

"You should go to bed early," she says, gently stroking hair from his forehead. He's grown so much in such a short amount of time, and it feels like she's missing out on the bulk of it. "You must be tired from all that excitement tonight."

Yunho nods and says, “Thanks, Umma. I will,” even though they both know that he’ll be up late, trying to catch up on his studying.

Mihyun strokes Yunho’s head one last time before she walks out of the room. She checks in with Changmin and Jihye too — the former reading a comic book on his bed, while the latter is watching yet another variety show on her phone. Both promise to go to bed right after, but she doubts that’s going to happen anytime soon. She knows that Changmin, at least, would’ve padded over to Yunho’s room as soon as her oldest boy actually put away the books and despite their conversation tonight, Yunho would keep at it for another hour or two. She appreciates and understands how seriously he’s preparing for the CSATs, but she’s also worried that he’s going to burn out soon with hour much work he’s doing. It’s the annual concern of mothers across the country and there’s nothing she can do about it other than to support him as much she can. 

Mihyun sighs, before she makes her way to the bedroom. She doesn’t even notice Yanghyun as she picks up a few pieces of his clothing from the floor (at least she can get her children to clean; to try to get her husband to do the same is next to impossible), and she only looks towards the bed when she hears his throat clearing. He’s half-lying on the bed in a pose that looks uncomfortable and awkward. On further inspection, Mihyun realizes that he even has a rose between his teeth. Mihyun stops and stares. 

“What are you doing?”

Being very careful to not stab his tongue with the thorns on the rose stem (he really should've done something about that once he picked it off from its flourishing bush), Yanghyun says, "Waiting for my beautiful mate to join me." He pats the space in front of him. And winks. Sexily. Or about as sexy as he can while trying to not stretch his back too far. Talking with the rose between his teeth is getting too dangerous so he spits it onto the bed and asks, "Where were you?"

“Looking after the kids,” says Mihyun. She throws the clothes she’s picked up over the armchair, and approaches the bed. She picks up the rose carefully and puts it aside — her husband hasn’t even dethorned the thing. He’s still looking at her as if he’s still in his twenties and sexy. It makes Mihyun snort, but she gets under the covers next to Yanghyun. "Yunho needs to go for therapy."

Yanghyun's hand stills, where it's inches away from Mihyun's waist. He props himself up on his elbow to look at her, brows furrowed. "Therapy?" A dark cloud passes over his face. "Is it because of that Han kid?"

"No," sighs Mihyun, though it wouldn't hurt for Yunho to talk to someone about that, too. "It's about the shifting. He told me today that he feels like something bad is going to happen to Changmin when he shifts to wolf."

It's time, Yanghyun thinks, with palpable relief. He'd pushed that particular issue to the back of his head, trying not to worry about it until Yunho is ready to discuss his problem with him. Or someone else. He places his hand on Mihyun's hip and kisses her shoulder. "It's good that he's willing to work on it." Although what _ that _ has to do with Changmin is baffling at best. Yanghyun remembers seeing less of Yunho's wolf as the boy gets older, especially after their horrific experience on Changmin's first day of school with them. "He'd pretty much stopped shifting after he saw Changmin in that cage."

It feels like she's just been hit over the head as it hits her. She sits upright in bed quickly, knocking Yanghyun's face away in the process. Of _ course_, that makes _ sense _ — for Little Yunho, to be separated with Changmin and then to see his brother be punished like that after having shifted would have been traumatic, and he probably internalized it as his own doing until it got to this point. _ No wonder _ Yunho would be wary of shifting. 

Yanghyun grimaces as he tweaks his nose, making sure that everything is in order. He makes a wounded noise as he stares at Mihyun’s wide-eyed expression. “What? What is it?”

"Why didn't you say this sooner?" reprimands Mihyun, holding her head. Yes, what happened was traumatic, for both the kids and the family too — but never in a million years would Mihyun have expected it to have gone this far, for it to affect Yunho so deeply. "That's why he doesn't like to shift, it's because he thinks it's his fault what happened that day!"

It takes Yanghyun a few seconds to understand what his wife is saying and even so, it’s hard for him to reconcile her realisation to what he knows of his son. Surely, Yunho hadn’t been holding himself accountable for something that happened to Changmin, all these years? Yanghyun sits himself against the headboard, frowning at the far off wall. “It wasn’t his fault. He’d been upset, but he knows it wasn’t his fault.”

Only now, Yanghyun isn’t so sure anymore.

Mihyun sighs at her clueless mate. “And I’m sure, consciously, Yunho knows that it wasn’t him who physically put Changmin in that cage, but he was young and impressionable enough that somehow, he must have connected the two events.” She turns to Yanghyun. “How do we talk about this with Yunho?”

Yanghyun doubts there’s anything more they could’ve done for Yunho, at this point. Not when it’s taken them years to finally unearth a possible connection between his childhood trauma to his reluctance to shift. “If he’s going to Dahee, maybe that’s for the better. We’ll tell her everything that happened to him before, see if she can help him work through it.” He smooths a hand over Mihyun’s head and pulls her close to press a kiss to her forehead. “He’ll be fine, dear.”

Mihyun sighs and tries to relax in Yanghyun's arms. "I just want Yunho to stop hurting."

“He will,” he says, rubbing her arms. He thinks about when Yunho was a child, bright and precocious and so proud of being a wolf, and wonders if he’d failed him. The feeling sits heavy in his guts, like an anvil. Yanghyun kisses Mihyun’s forehead again, isn’t sure who he’s comforting — his mate or himself. “We’ll make sure he does.”

.

Changmin wakes up when his alarm goes off, groaning at the loud noises too close to his ears. He gropes blindly to shut it off and hits Yunho in the face, which wakes him up entirely. They’re curled in bed, as they always do these days, and waking up to Yunho in the morning is becoming his favourite part of the day. He thumbs off the alarm and turns to the older boy, checking to see if he has actually hurt him. When he sees that Yunho is still asleep, Changmin exhales a low chuckle and goes to pepper feather-light kisses all over Yunho’s face.

“Wake up~” 

Yunho bats his hand at the tickling on his face, still half-asleep, and it's only when he opens his eyes halfway and sees the younger boy that he realizes it's morning. He focuses his eyes on Changmin, and blinks. It's not fair how good he looks even with bed hair and all. Yunho wraps his arms around Changmin's neck and pulls him closer. "Good morning," Yunho croaks rather clumsily.

He goes easily and nuzzles the side of Yunho’s face, finding a patch of warm skin to press his mouth against. Yunho smells sweeter in the morning, somehow, and Changmin likes that he’s the only one that gets to experience this. “We should get up before Jihye starts yelling,” he murmurs, sliding his hands underneath Yunho’s night shirt and grinning when he feels him shudder. 

Yunho smiles shyly, and buries his head into his pillow again. It's so early in the morning but his heart's pounding out of his chest; no matter how many days they spend together and how many mornings they wake up together, Yunho doesn't think Changmin would ever _ not _ make his heart flutter. Yunho blushes, and hopes that Changmin can't hear how crazy his heart is going.

Changmin’s grin widens and he nips at Yunho, trying to coax his face out of the pillow. He doesn’t understand how Yunho can still feel embarrassed after months of this, but it does turn his face into a very fetching shade of red that Changmin enjoys, so he’s not about to complain. He palms Yunho’s sides, thumbs slowly stroking back and forth, as he presses their bodies closer. Until he can feel the beating of Yunho’s heart, right against his chest. “Don’t I get a proper kiss before I have to leave?” He lets out a quiet whine, nudging Yunho’s shoulder with his nose. 

Yunho peeks out from where he'd been hiding, and raises his chin so that Changmin can kiss him properly. Yunho feels a bit bad about his morning breath, but Changmin doesn't seem to mind as he holds Yunho tighter. They break apart in a few short seconds, to Jihye's yelling at them outside their door, and Yunho sighs as he's pulled from the clouds back down to earth. "I wish I didn't have to go to school."

“So you can have your wicked ways with me?” Changmin can see the way Yunho’s mood has dipped, the downward curl of his mouth. He kisses him again, putting a bit more pressure into it this time. “If you are, I’m not gonna complain. Maybe we can both be down with something.” He fakes a cough, badly. “A threatening case of bronchitis?”

Yunho's a bit sad that he seriously considers that. But he really doesn't want to subject himself to another day of bullying and harassment; it's not easy, even with Changmin there with him. Yunho even wishes he could drop out of school and just go through the work at home, but his parents would never let him. "I wish," replies Yunho glumly. He'd much rather be sick than have to go to school. But he forces himself to sit up, slouched over.

“Hey,” Changmin says softly, rubbing a hand down the sloping line of Yunho’s back. “Don’t worry about it. They’re idiots, you know that.”

"I know," sighs Yunho. It doesn't change the fact that they're still able to make him miserable enough to wish he didn't have to go to school. He's not sure if he's imagining it, but it even feels like his usual human friends have turned their backs on him, and if it weren't for Changmin, Yunho's not sure how he could even have a hope of surviving at school. And it just reinforces to him, Yunho needs to work harder to make sure that they go to the same university. That thought is the only thing that pushes Yunho out of bed, albeit still reluctantly.

Not for the first time, Changmin wishes that he could’ve gotten to Jiwook a lot earlier and put him in place. Doesn’t matter that he doubts a rotten piece of ass like the other alpha still wouldn’t make Yunho’s life difficult — at least Changmin would’ve tried to do something about it. It’s a physical hurt to see how quiet Yunho has become at school, when Changmin knows how much the older boy cherishes spending time with his friends. While there are those who don’t mind his omega status or simply don’t care, there are also a growing number who’d apparently decided to listen to Jiwook’s lie mongering. Not only has he painted Yunho as an ugly caricature of an omega — a wanton, knot-chasing creature that only listens to their baser instincts, but he’d also somehow convinced them that Yunho had been after him. As if any self-respecting omega would settle for a dickbag alpha like him. 

Pushing the thought to the back of his head as to not completely ruin the morning, Changmin tilts Yunho’s face to him and kisses him slowly. Before Jihye’s voice cuts through again and he heaves himself off the bed with an exaggerated sigh. When he comes down to breakfast, she rolls her eyes at him and continues her heated argument with Yanghyun about a sleepover or something the week after. Changmin’s stuffing his mouth with gimbap when Yunho finally comes down the stairs, still looking a bit morose. Jihye takes one look at him and shoves an elbow into Changmin’s side.

“You should get something to eat before Changmin-oppa finishes everything off,” Jihye says, wrinkling her nose at Changmin’s plate and ignoring the wheezing noise he makes as he tries not to spew half-chewed rice all over the table. 

Yunho nods and sits — tries to look a lot more brave than he feels. He loads his plate with food and forces a piece into his mouth and chews, even though he’s not all that hungry. He might feel like he’s going to break apart, but he’s going to do everything he can to hold himself together. _ Whatever_. He’s going to be finished with school in two months, and he’s got Changmin right there with him. He keeps repeating the mantra of _ it’s going to be fine _ in his head over and over as he finishes his breakfast.

Yanghyun exchanges a look with Mihyun, whose brows have furrowed with concern, but she says nothing as she hands them their packed lunches. She does pull Yunho into a hug before he can head for the front door, while his other siblings have gone ahead of him. “Be safe, sweetheart.” 

Yunho nods as he returns the hug. “Thanks, Umma. I will.” 

He rubs his palm over his mother’s back to comfort her — and he tries to ignore the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that it’s all his fault that she’s distressed like this. It’s not, Yunho has nothing to feel guilty about, he didn’t choose to be an omega. He manages a smile as he straightens. “I’ll be home early today.” His mother nods, looking a bit less worried, and Yunho gives her one last wave before he heads for the car.

Changmin is already waiting at the backseat of the car and he twines his fingers with Yunho’s tightly once they’re all settled in. Yanghyun and Jihye have resumed their argument, and it’s background noise to the thoughts crowding inside his head. They don’t have long before the end of the school year, before Yunho will sit for his exams, but with the way things are going at school, Changmin can’t wait for it to be over. Once they arrive, he gives Yunho’s hand a squeeze before he lets go and goes out the other side. Yanghyun’s telling them that he won’t be able to pick them up later — something to do with a court appearance on a difficult case he’s been working on. 

“It’s fine. We’ll walk home together,” Changmin says, smiling at him. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”

Jihye scoffs but doesn’t protest, and she drifts towards her friends after a quick wave at Yanghyun. Who shakes his head at her and turns to Yunho to say, “If that Han kid gives you anymore grief, tell me. Alright?”

To be honest, Yunho’s not sure what his father could possibly do for him, but he nods. “I will. Don’t worry, Appa.” 

They watch Yanghyun drive off, and Changmin says, while staring at the moving traffic, “Can I still punch his throat if he tries to talk to you again?”

Yunho lets out a sigh but also can’t help himself from smiling. He whispers a quiet “I love you,” in lieu of actually replying; because no, he can’t punch Jiwook throat because he can’t get into trouble, but Yunho is nonetheless grateful for the support.

“Should’ve broken his arms the first time around,” Changmin grumbles under his breath, as he follows Yunho towards their classroom. 

It’s the usual chaos in the morning and they find their seats before the teacher gets in. Even with his scholarship pretty much secured, Changmin doesn’t like the idea of skating through the final exams with minimal effort and paying attention is a lot easier than to let his mind wander. The rest of the classes are occupied by doing revision and practice questions, and by the time recess rolls around, Changmin has had enough of the English comprehension exercises staring back at him from the workbook. He swivels around to ask Yunho if he wants to go to the cafeteria, but the older boy is apparently still working on the exercises. Changmin gets to his feet and ambles over, tapping on Yunho’s table with his knuckles to get Yunho’s attention. 

“Break,” he says, raising his eyebrows. “I’m hungry.”

Yunho puts his pencil down reluctantly. The anxieties are still nagging at him and he’d rather stay at his desk, but he also deserves a break, and so does Changmin. He stands from his desk and smiles at Changmin. “Okay. Caf.”

Changmin returns the smile with a wide grin, resisting the urge to sling his arm around Yunho’s waist as they make their way out. He doesn’t see Jiwook anywhere, which is nice, and he’d like to keep it that way. If he has to stick to Yunho throughout the school hours to prevent him from accosted again, that’s what he’s going to do. He’s telling Yunho about a new member of the swimming team, who has some kind of a deep-seated terror of snails, and watching the older boy laugh when someone bumps into them. Specifically, into Yunho and almost knocks him off his feet. It’s only Changmin’s quick reflex to grab Yunho’s forearm that keeps him vertical. 

“Watch where you’re going, _ omega,_” comes the sneer, too sharp and too loud to go unnoticed. 

Yunho flushes, and he takes in a breath; he wishes he was quick-witted enough to say something back, but he's never been good at that, especially when he's caught off guard like this. So he just stands there, can't even think of a single word to say — and his mind is starting to veer off into all different directions when he feels Changmin moving to step out in front of him. He manages to curl his fingers into the back of Changmin’s shirt in time, somehow pulling him back when Changmin is already surging for a fight. Yunho can smell the anger rolling off him and he tightens his grip; the only thing he’s worried about is that this would be the last straw that’d break Changmin’s already-strained self-control. 

And he isn’t sure he’ll be able to stop him this time. 

The underclassman who bumped into him scoffs, entirely unrepentant, and it’s someone Yunho hasn’t even talked to before. Changmin’s entire face mirrors his intention to crush someone’s windpipe and he’s gritting out words that sound more like a promise than a threat, “I’ll make you eat your fucking teeth—“

But before Yunho can lose his grip and watch Changmin lose his scholarship in the ensuing brawl, they’re both forced to take a step back by the sudden appearance of extra bodies around them. Yunho blinks in surprise, doesn’t even notice Changmin’s arm around his waist as he takes in the sight of several boys and girls circling them. It takes another second for him to realise that he _ knows _ them. Pack members. One of the girls glances at him, gives him a critical once-over and, when he catches her eyes, grins with all teeth. She turns forward again after a curt nod and Yunho is even more bewildered after. 

“Human,” she says, and it sounds like a curse rolling out her mouth. It’s when she’s speaking that he recognises her as Dongmin’s daughter — they have the same careful enunciation, the same cadence. The same alpha quality. And now she’s standing before them, staring down Yunho’s offender. “This is your first and only warning. Tell your friends, everyone aligned to Han Jiwook, that if they cross Jung Yunho or Shim Changmin again, the pack will answer.” The rest of the circle bare their teeth in chorus and the underclassman looks like he’s about to shit his pants. “Understand?”

He nods frantically, stumbling back. “Y-Yes—“

She tilts her head and takes a half-step forward. “I can’t hear you.”

“Yes! I will— I’ll make sure they know!” 

He backtracks so quickly it’s a wonder he doesn’t leave skid marks and within seconds, he’d already disappeared down the hallway. Changmin raises his eyebrows at Dongmin’s daughter. “What the hell, Kyunghee?”

She shrugs, unconcerned by his ire. “Figured you need some backup.” Her face tilts towards Yunho and smiles. “You good?”

Yunho's just dazed and staring, it's a bit surreal what just happened. It's not until she claps Yunho on the arm that he jumps and nods fervently. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Thank you." He looks around at all the pack members and adds genuinely, "All of you. Thank you."

There's a round of shoulder patting going on before the only ones left behind are Yunho, Changmin and Kyunghee. She tosses her hair back and crosses her arms, staring at the two boys. "Jihye told me what happened with you and Jiwook; can't believe I didn't hear about it sooner. You tried talking to that asshole?"

Yunho shakes his head. "I mean… I don't really want to," says Yunho honestly. 

She clicks her tongue. "Don't you think it's about time you guys talk this out? Before it gets worse?"

Yunho chews on his bottom lip. "I'm not sure if reason will get through to him, to be honest with you."

Changmin cuts in then, annoyed that Kyunghee would even suggest such a thing. "There's no way I'm gonna let that happen. That shitbag can't be reasoned with."

Kyunghee lets out an exasperated noise, levelling a stare at Changmin, that he returns with a frown. "Diplomacy, Changmin, in case you've never heard of it. He won't back down easily, from what I've seen so far, so you can either let him continue to talk shit about you or work something out. The pack's got your back, either way." 

Yunho glances at Changmin. To be honest, the idea is still unappealing to say the least; he doesn't want to have to look at the other wolf for any period of time, and talking to him seems like torture in itself, with all of the derogatory things that he's said about Yunho and omegas in general. Yunho makes a non-committal noise and tugs surreptitiously on Changmin's sleeve.

Changmin knows better than to continue standing there and listen to Kyunghee's brand of problem solving — she's basically a cardboard cut-out of her father when it comes to matters like this. "We'll think about it," he says, squaring his jaw. A large part of him feels like it's his place to protect Yunho and that he doesn't need the pack to do so. "Thanks for the advice, but we'll handle this ourselves."

For a second, it appears as if she's about to argue, but then thinks better of it. Instead, she turns to stare at Yunho and says, "Look. You've kicked his ass before. Don't let him forget that. The longer you're avoiding him and letting this bullshit go on, the more convinced he is that you're nothing more than a helpless omega. Which you're not, dude." 

She punctuates that with another nod, before pivoting on her heels and walking off. 

Yunho watches her walk away, and only after she's turned the corner, turns to Changmin, more confused than anything now. "What was that?"

“That’s her not minding her own damned business,” Changmin grouses, the frown still firmly in place. He doesn’t like the way she’d spoken to Yunho, likes less the implication that they’re somehow enabling Jiwook’s behaviour by not retaliating. He circles his fingers around Yunho’s wrist and nudges him forward. “C’mon, let’s get some food. I’m still starving. And pissed.”

Yunho follows Changmin and it's awkward now that they're _ not _ holding hands, but they try to be more secretive at school. Yunho thinks he might try mixing banana milk with strawberry milk today. "Wanna share milk?" asks Yunho, holding up the cartons for Changmin to see.

“Uh. Yeah.” Changmin eyes the different milk flavours and tries very hard not to grimace. “I’ll pass this time. My stomach… doesn’t feel good.”

"I thought you said you were hungry," says Yunho with a concerned frown. "Are you okay? Do you need to go home?"

“It’s not that bad.” It’s harder to say no when Yunho is looking at him like that, but somehow Changmin perseveres. Must be his survival kicking instinct kicking into high gear. “I’ll be okay. Just not for milk.” He checks the time and rips open a packet of bread. “Do you think Appa and Umma will let us go on a trip after your exam?”

Yunho gasps with delight at the very thought. "That would be amazing," he says. His eyes sparkle. "Just the two of us. We could go see the ocean, and eat all the seafood."

“Jeju.” Changmin smiles, eyes crinkling at Yunho’s excitement. Just thinking about going off somewhere with the older boy, together without anybody else, sends warmth flooding into the pit of his stomach. He sticks out his pinky finger, wiggling it at Yunho. “Promise?”

Yunho nods enthusiastically before linking pinkies with him. "_ Please_." It feels almost magical how Changmin can make him feel better so instantly. They exchange smiles, and Yunho just thinks how lucky he is, despite all of this, to have Changmin and the pack here with him.

.

If there’s one thing Jiwook hates, it’s backing down from a challenge. And that’s exactly what this is — it reached him at the end of the day that Yunho’s pack is rallying behind their fucking omega and that they’ve pretty much threatened whoever associated with him. It sounds like a declaration of war because there’s no way in hell he’d let a second-class wolf, an _ omega _ trample all over his reputation and get away with it. There’s a reason omegas belong under alphas and Jiwook intends to hammer that particular fact into Yunho’s head sooner rather than later. If telling everyone about how fucking devious omegas are isn’t working as quickly as he thought it would, then the only thing left to do is to go straight.

Right to Yunho. 

Jiwook spots Yunho on his way back from school, alone for once. No sign of anyone else, especially that alpha brother of his. Shim Changmin is a fucking disgrace, to follow around this omega like he can’t resist a dripping pussy. Jiwook’s mouth curls into a sneer as he follows Yunho, careful to wait until they’re almost reaching the back of a park close to a construction site, secluded from the busier streets and intersections. Picking up his pace, he shoves at Yunho’s back and watches with satisfaction as Yunho stumbles forward. 

“Hello, _ omega. _”

Yunho gasps in surprise and is barely able to stop himself from falling. He manages to stay on his feet, though, and he whirls around and sees the familiar face that sends shivers up his spine. It's already bad enough that Changmin couldn't walk home with him because the swim team had to go out for dinner together for their coach's birthday — seeing Jiwook is only the icing on the cake. Yunho's hands curl into fists, but Kyunghee's voice urging him to have a conversation with him rings in his ears. So instead, he takes a couple steps back. 

"What do you want?" he bites out.

Jiwook smirks. There’s nothing he likes more than having the upper hand, especially when he registers the look on Yunho’s face. “I heard you spoke to my friend today. Ain’t smart.”

Yunho holds up his hands, palms up. "Listen, leave me alone, and my pack and I leave you and your friends alone. It's that simple. Let's just… leave it at that."

Clicking his tongue in mock disappointment, Jiwook draws closer. It’s a shame Yunho hasn’t yet recognised the truth — that an omega would never win against an alpha. That he should’ve yielded to Jiwook the first time around and play this cat-and-mouse game with someone else. “See, you don’t get to decide that.” He looks around with an exaggerated shrug. “Where’s your pack now, huh? They’re not here to save your ass, omega.”

"_I have a name,_" retorts Yunho rather angrily. This conversation is clearly turning out to be futile already. He can't wait to tell Kyunghee how wrong she was. "I'm not bothering you. I'm just walking home. So let's just keep it that way." He takes another few steps back. "Leave me alone. Please."

“Did I say you can go?” Jiwook matches Yunho’s steps, doesn’t let him get any further than a foot between them. This close, he can _ smell _ Yunho. Like a fucking siren. How the fuck he'd mistaken him for a beta before is anybody's guess. Must've used some kind of masking spray. Jiwook shoves at him again, pushing him against the chain link fence to the side. "You're gonna have to apologise first, omega."

Yunho swallows, but forces himself not to break the eye contact with the alpha. "All right. I'm sorry for any misunderstanding we've had. Let's start over. I don't want anyone to get hurt." Yunho looks around, wishes for someone to walk by, just for the entire situation to be over, but there's no one.

“No one’s gettin’ hurt. If you do what I say.” Jiwook steps closer, looking at Yunho with a sharply-curling smirk. Must be an omega thing, to be this pretty and look this sweet. No wonder his father told him that omegas need a firm hand to rein them in. Or a leash. He likes the idea of that — putting Yunho in a leash. Reaching out to grip Yunho’s shoulder, nothing gentle there, he sneers, “You should drop to your knees first, omega.”

Yunho flushes — not sure if it's anger or embarrassment — no, it's anger, and he clenches his teeth. "I'm not going to do that. Get your hands off me, or I'm going to stop playing nice."

Jiwook lets out a bark of laughter, right into Yunho’s face. “You’ll stop playin’ _ nice_? Is that supposed to scare me?” He tightens his grip and presses up close to Yunho, narrowing his eyes as his voice lowers to a growl, “You’re a fucking _ omega. _ Now drop to your fucking knees or I’ll tell everyone that you begged for my dick today. They’ll believe me, y’know? They’ll always believe an alpha over somethin’ like you.”

Yunho would have winced, but he’s almost in disbelief at the crude words that they don’t even hurt him like they probably should have. Instead, he lifts his chin and talks down at him. “You’re _ very _ rude.” He narrows his eyes. “I don’t care what you tell anyone. If the people who I consider to be my friends believe you over me, then it’s good riddance on my part. Now _ move_.” 

Yunho reaches up and gives the alpha a strong shove, and with the fence as leverage behind him, he manages to get the other boy to stumble back a couple of steps. Yunho takes the moment to fix the straps of his backpack over his shoulders and turns away, and starts walking as quickly as he can towards home. He doesn’t get very far when he’s yanked back, fingers digging into his shoulder so hard it’s a wonder they didn’t tear right through the fabric. Yunho digs his heels in to stop the momentum from forcing him off his feet and wheels around to tell Jiwook to leave him alone _ again_. By the time he sees Jiwook’s fist, it’s already too late. 

The punch connects with his cheek instead of his nose, as he manages to jerk his face to the side on time. Pain bloomed instantly, radiating outwards from his jaw, and his entire skull is rattled from the impact. He must’ve cut the inside of his mouth because he tastes blood. Yunho spits and wipes the back of a hand over his mouth, coming away with streaks of red stark against his pale skin. His eyes widen, equal parts anger and disbelief at being attacked so brazenly by another wolf, but he doesn’t get to dwell too long on it when he realises that Jiwook isn’t intending to stop after one punch. The alpha is advancing, a wild grin on his face and eyes already ringed with gold — as if this is a hunt. 

And that _ Yunho _ is _ prey. _

Well. He’s sick of playing nice anyway.

Yunho shifts his weight to his other foot and moves backward, half-step, when Jiwook lunges at him. There’s nothing graceful about the alpha’s movements — clumsy punches, overcompensating with his bulk and telegraphing his intentions so clearly that the only reason he landed that first punch was because of the element of surprise. Now that he doesn’t have that anymore, Jiwook finds himself swinging his fists without making contact. Yunho strikes back after another empty swing, reaching for Jiwook’s extended wrist and using Jiwook’s momentum against him. He rotates his own arm upwards to lock the elbow, grabs Jiwook’s waist, and uses his hip to throw Jiwook to the ground. He follows through with an arm lock and pushes a knee hard against Jiwook’s sternum. 

He leans in harder when the alpha starts howling.

“Listen.” Yunho scowls down at Jiwook, who’s too busy writhing to listen properly. He huffs and lets go of the arm, levelling a warning glare when Jiwook tries to push him of. When that doesn’t work, he put more weight into the knee and raises a fist to show that he’s not above punching Jiwook in the throat to shut him up. That seems to communicate through and Jiwook grudgingly lowers his hands, mouth pulled into an ugly snarl as he looks up at Yunho. “Better. Now _ listen_. Leave. Me. And. My. Pack. Alone.” He punctuates each word with an increase of pressure on Jiwook’s chest, until the alpha’s spitting out curses and starting to wriggle again. Easing off, Yunho tilts his head to the side and licks at his lips. He tastes copper and frowns. “I don’t know what kind of backwater pack you grew up in, but you’re _ wrong. _ Alphas are _ not _ better than omegas. Far from it, since I kicked your ass before and I did it again today.”

Jiwook raises his head, veins bulging at the side of his neck at the strain as he spits out, “You fuck— You’re gonna regret this! You’re nothing! You’re just another hole—”

Yunho shakes his head in disgust, recognising a lost case when he sees one. He doesn’t usually give up on someone — he believes that there’s good in everyone, but there’s always a first time for everything. Suddenly feeling very, very tired with all the shit he's had to deal with, he gets to his feet and runs a hand through his hair, pushing the strands back. “Just leave me alone.” His face throbs, a reminder that he’s most probably sporting a bruise he’s not quite sure how to explain to his family. To Changmin. _ Shit. _ “We’re done.”

When Yunho walks away, Jiwook is still on the ground, cradling his arm.

.

**tbc**

.


	15. Chapter 15

.

Yunho walks on, as quickly as he can without breaking out into an actual run, with his hand covering the cut on his lip and the bruise that must certainly be blooming on his cheek. He keeps checking over his shoulder, and he doesn't let his guard down until his house comes into view. He starts running then, the sheer relief flooding over him, and he pounds on the front door, willing his mother to come to the door to open it sooner than the time it takes for him to fish out his key.

Yunho touches the back of his hand to the cut on his lip as he waits, to see if he's still bleeding. He is, and the blood dabs out onto his hand in small drops. Yunho winces as the door opens — either from facing his mother like this or from the stinging that's just worsened.

When he looks up, his mother is making the most horrified face he's ever seen on her, and he has to look away.

Mihyun reaches out in an instant, both hands going to Yunho's face and turning him towards her once again. His skin is hot under her palms, almost feverishly so, but it's the blood and the bruise that catch her eyes first. "What happened?" Her voice quivers, from concern or anger, she can't quite tell them apart. "Why are you bleeding?"

Yunho shakes his head. "Just… got a bit hurt. It's not a big deal." He wants to avoid telling her anything if she'll let him get away with it; he doesn't want his mother to know that he's become a _total_ misfit, and doesn't want to worry her any more than he already has. He forces out a weak grin at her and walks past her to make his way upstairs.

Mihyun's brows crease into a frown and she grabs Yunho's arm before he can get far, tugging him back towards her. "It _is_ a big deal if you're hurt," she says, firmly herding Yunho towards the kitchen table. She gestures for him to sit down as she moves to where they keep the First Aid kit. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that he hasn't tried to escape, she narrows her eyes at her oldest son. Who, she suspects, has been keeping things to himself more than she realised. "Now tell me what happened."

Yunho rolls his lips between his teeth and stays silent as she starts cleaning the wound. That's excuse enough not to talk for the moment, but when she finishes, she's still looking at him expectantly.

"I walked into a pole," lies Yunho at his lap, realizing he's not going to be able to get away without an explanation. "I have to go study now. I've wasted so much time over the last few weeks and my CSATs are coming up in a month."

"Yunho…" Mihyun sighs, packing the kit and sitting in the chair right in front of him. His lip is swollen, the cut red and angry once she'd cleaned the blood off, and the bruise on his cheek is going to look a lot uglier as it ripens. Her heart aches seeing him like this, even more so when she knows very well that he's not telling the truth. That he doesn't trust her enough to unburden himself, preferring to carry the weight of whatever behind _this_ on his own shoulders. She grasps his hand, holding it in both of hers. "A pole didn't do this to you, you and I know that." She allows the words to sink in for a few seconds, before adding, "Did you get into a fight?"

It takes him a few seconds to find his words. "I walked into a pole," repeats Yunho quietly. Because what would his mother possibly be able to do to fix all of this? There is no solution, and if that's the case, there's no sense making his mother worry, and embarrassing himself. He pulls his hands out of Mihyun's and gets up from the chair. "Thanks. I have to study now."

Mihyun’s grip on his arm is tight and unrelenting, and it anchors him in place so he realises that she wouldn’t let him go unless he tells her the truth. He’s stubborn, almost as much as her husband, and she’s had a lifetime dealing with stubborn men who should’ve known better than to try to walk all over her. “You’re going to sit down and tell me what happened. What _really_ happened.” While her voice is firm and brooks no argument, her expression softens, just a fraction at the pained look on his face. “I’m your mother, Yunho. You don’t have to hide anything from me.”

Yunho finds himself anxiously letting out a whine (why is it only at times like this that he really feels like a wolf?) and shifts. The thick, white fur covers him protectively, and he curls up tightly on the floor. "_It wasn't my fault_."

Mihyun doesn’t shift as often as her children do, but she recognises that he’s now seeking comfort in his lupine form and she joins him on the floor. He’d already outgrown her years back and she can no longer curl around him. Her fur is a contrast against Yunho’s, reddish brown sliding alongside his pristine whiteness. “_I’m not blaming you for anything, sweetheart. I just want to know what happened._” She licks at his face, where the cut on Yunho’s lip had transferred to his muzzle. “_Was it that same boy again? The one that’d been harassing you?_”

Yunho nods guiltily. "_Yes. He followed me on my way home._" He looks up at his mother and sees her looking more worried, even through the muted expressions of her wolf. "_It was just him, alone. It's not like I'm being, like… _bullied_ at school,_" he emphasizes, just so that she won't think Yunho's started having problems with his peers at school.

“_That kid needs a heavier hand to keep him under control,_” Mihyun growls, more than a little angry at how the Han boy is still stubbornly persistent in bothering her son. Even after a meeting with the boy’s family. And now that their encounter had escalated to a physical altercation, they need to find some other ways to deal with this. She hates to ask, but she has to. “_Did he do something to you?_”

"_He just won't leave me alone,_" whines Yunho. He sighs. "_I tried to walk away from him, since he's always calling me all sorts of names— and then he punched me, just out of the blue. And then I had no choice but to defend myself._"

Relief that nothing more was inflicted upon her son offers little comfort when faced with the knowledge that Yunho had to defend himself against another wolf, against his own schoolmate. Against an alpha who wouldn’t take ‘_no_’ for an answer. It’s one of the worst nightmares of any parents of an omega — to come face-to-face with how their child would be treated by unscrupulous, morally-corrupt members of their own community. Mihyun huffs out a sigh and butts Yunho’s snout with her own. “_You were right to do so._” She pauses for a second, before adding, “_I think you should stop going to school, at least until your father and I resolve this issue. I'm worried that he’ll try something else next time. Something worse._”

It's a sense of pure _relief_ that floods over him. He's been dreading going to school every day, and even his pack hasn't been able to change that. If there's anything good to have come out of this, this would be it. Yunho feels his spirits lifting almost instantly, and feels his tail starting to move on its own accord back and forth as he gets to his feet rather quickly. "_Really? I can stop going to school?_"

"_I'll have to talk to your father first,_" Mihyun says, getting to her own feet and shifting out of her wolf form. She pets Yunho's head and smiles down at him. "But it shouldn't be a problem. Not when the school hasn't done anything to protect you from all this bullying."

Yunho wags his tail happily and jumps up to place his paws on his mother's shoulders. He loves school, he really does — but the past few weeks have been absolutely dreadful, and just the thought of not having to go cheers him up. His mind soon goes to Changmin though, and he winces as he remembers that they won't be together through all of this. He feels his ears sagging slightly, and he decides to shift back then. The dull ache on his cheek is much more apparent like this, and he sighs. "Well… I should go study. Thanks for everything, Umma."

The shift of Yunho’s expressions confuses her, but before she can ask, Yunho has already gone up the stairs to his room. Mihyun watches her son’s back disappear and sighs, wondering if being an omega truly is ruining his life. She doesn’t want to believe that to be true, but it seems like Yunho is no longer as bright and cheerful as he once was. And she worries. Endlessly. She would have to talk to Yanghyun about keeping Yunho home until he’s done with his CSATs and talking to the school about their rather lackadaisical attitude towards discrimination and bullying. To think that it’s been allowed to happen all this while… Mihyun shakes her head and she’s moving to the kitchen to start on dinner when she hears Jihye’s voice from the front door, announcing her return.

“Where’s Yunho oppa?” she asks, tossing her bag onto the couch. “I thought he’s going back with me because Changmin oppa said he had to go to dinner with his teammates.”

Mihyun grabs her apron from its hook. “He’s upstairs, studying.” She turns to her daughter, who’d picked up a cherry tomato from the bowl on the table. “Jihye, is your brother still having trouble at school?”

Jihye turns to stare at her mother with the cherry tomato in her mouth, still not having bitten into it. "Which one?"

“Is Changmin getting into trouble as well?” Mihyun frowns at Jihye.

"What? No?" Jihye focuses on chewing on her tomato and tries to put on the most clueless face she can manage, so that she can answer this question appropriately. "What do you mean? Is Yunho oppa in trouble?"

The frown still hasn’t left her face as she opens the fridge, pulling out the slices of beef and everything else she would need for the bulgogi they’re making today. “He got into a fight with the Han boy again today.” She sighs. “Your brother might need to stay home until graduation if this keeps happening.”

"Wait, _what_?" Jihye swallows and scowls. "Is Yunho oppa okay? What —"

Mihyun thinks about the blood she'd had to wipe clean and the bruise that's blossomed into ugly colours, and shakes her head. No mother would relish having to do that for their children. "He got hurt, but I'm more worried about how school has been for him. Since he presented." She looks at Jihye, making sure that her daughter knows how serious this is. "Has there been any problem at school?"

Jihye feels like she could start a fight herself against that _ridiculous_ Han boy the next time she sees him, this is getting out of hand. She crosses her arms and looks at her mother. "It's been the talk of the school ever since he presented. I mean —"Jihye can imagine that Yunho might be upset that she's saying all this, but something needs to be done. "He's being bullied all the time, people just shoving him and calling him names randomly, and I think he's lost a bunch of his friends, and…" Jihye shakes his head. "It hasn't been great for him at school."

Mihyun exhales slowly. So her suspicion is right, after all. Kids can be cruel, especially at their age but she'd hoped that Yunho wouldn't have to go through all of that. And she thinks that she knows who's behind all of the bullying. Mihyun can't help how sharp her voice is when she says, "Why didn't you tell me or your Appa about this, Jihye? It's been _weeks_."

Jihye takes a defensive half-step back. "Because Yunho oppa didn't want me to! He didn't want to upset you. He thought he was going to be able to sort it out on his own." Though clearly, he was wrong.

"You kids…" Mihyun knows it's not Jihye's fault, not when Yunho is as stubborn as he is and how devoted Jihye is to her brothers. She would have to talk to Yanghyun about this, to figure out a solution. Or if it really is better to keep Yunho at home, where he would be safe. It's not an ideal long-term solution, not when he's going to university after and he might encounter the same situation then. Mihyun pulls out the chopping board and places it on the counter. "Go and change. And then come down here to help me with dinner."

Jihye grunts and heads upstairs, hesitates right outside Yunho's door. She is dying to know how hurt her oldest brother is, but his door is closed and until the CSATs, Yunho's room is strictly off-limits when the door is closed. Shaking her head, Jihye reluctantly retreats to her own room instead.

.

Yunho's pretty impressed with himself with how quickly he's been able to forget the whole thing, especially in the safety of his home. Well, maybe _forget_ isn't the right word, since the throbbing of his face is a constant reminder. But he's able to focus on his studies, at least until they're called down for dinner. His father's home by then, and Yunho has the sense to cover the half of his face that's been abused with his hand, so that his father doesn't have a heart attack without warning.

"Hi, Appa," says Yunho awkwardly with a smile as his father approaches him with a rather frightening frown. "How was work?"

"Your mother told me you got into a fight with Han Jiwook." Yanghyun's voice is low and dangerous, the glint in his eyes sharp enough to cut. He grabs Yunho's wrist and removes the hand from his face, taking a closer look at the bruise. His expression darkens even further. "How long has this been going on?"

Yunho swallows. "Um… if you mean… fights, today was the first time we fought. I mean, the second time. Because the last time we fought, I was sus — I mean, you knew about that."

Yanghyun flattens his mouth into a thin line. He's quiet for a few seconds, taking in the colours smeared over Yunho's cheek and jawline. The first time, his son had been left unscathed at the end of the fight, but now that Han Jiwook had laid hands on Yunho… His instinct as the alpha of their family demands retribution, preferably in blood. "He's also the reason why you're being bullied in school?"

"I'm not being— like, _bullied_ —" begins Yunho defensively, but clearly, there's a reason why he hates going to school. He sighs, looks away and nods silently. "But he… was the one who told everyone about my status, and now he's trying to convince everyone that I've been coming onto him, which is _the_ worst lie ever."

"_What._" It comes out as a growl, low and threatening and entirely alpha-driven. The temperature around them drops a couple degrees and Yanghyun had never felt quite as murderous before. "Did you report this to a teacher? Or the principal?"

It's rare to see his father this angry, and Yunho feels like he's done something wrong as he shakes his head. "I… didn't think it would change anything. I'm sorry."

Yanghyun clenches his jaw, eyes still fixated on the cut and bruises on Yunho's face. Mihyun said that Yunho was attacked on the way back from school, which meant the Han kid had been waiting for him. Yunho shouldn't have been alone, not with the way things are going in school. Yanghyun's eyes narrow even further. "Where was your brother? Didn't Changmin say he'll walk home with you?"

Yunho draws in a quick breath. "It wasn't his fault! The swim team had to go out for dinner together. He was really upset not to be able to walk me home. And — I probably should have waited for Jihye. I just…" _got so sad that Changmin couldn't walk me home, so I didn't even think to wait for her._

"He should've known better." It feels as if Yanghyun is back to square one — worrying about how being an omega would affect Yunho's life, how people around him would react. He hates being right. And to think that he'd explicitly told Changmin to look after Yunho. "Did he know about the bullying?"

Yunho can feel that things are going wrong— _reall_y wrong, because none of this is Changmin's fault, and he decides not to answer the question. "Appa, he had no choice. I told him to go to the dinner."

Yanghyun's brows furrow. It doesn't escape his notice that Yunho hasn't actually answered his question and that just proves his suspicion to be correct: Changmin _knows_. And while not telling either him or Mihyun about this is already dumb enough, Changmin also failed to keep an eye on his brother. Even with the full knowledge of what's happening and what might have happened.

He's going to have a word with his younger son once Changmin gets home.

Yanghyun grips Yunho's face, careful to not use too much force as he assesses the injuries. They're horrendous-looking, but most of them are superficial. Small mercies. "I'm going to arrange a meeting with your principal tomorrow morning. We'll talk about this."

Yunho nods, relieved that the arrow seems to point away from Changmin again. "Yes, Appa."

Anything to make his father less _enraged_ at this point. He tilts his chin out of the grip of his father's fingers and smiles — unfortunately that splits open the cut on his lip again, which makes him wince a little. A displeased growl rumbles at the back of Yanghyun's throat, fury rippling through his entire being as he watches a bead of blood swelling from the opened cut. If he can get his hands on Han Jiwook properly, there wouldn't be much of the kid left once Yanghyun is done with him.

It’s almost a pity that they’re living in a more civilised time right now.

"You should clean that up before your mother sees it," he says, exhaling loudly. "I'll get some ice for your lips."

"It's okay, I'll get it," says Yunho quickly. He shuffles past his father and squeezes his arm on the way to the bathroom, hoping it'll appease him, even a little. When he gets to the bathroom, he presses a tissue to his lips until the bleeding stops. He washes up the dried blood and looks at himself in the mirror. He looks very foreign even to himself, and for a short moment, a surge of anger threatens to emerge from him too — that a lowlife like Han Jiwook managed to mark him up like this, and that he's made his entire family upset

He looks at himself in disgust once more, then turns off the light and leaves for the dining room. When he steps out, though, his father is waiting just outside with the ice. Yunho's careful not to smile. "Thank you."

Yanghyun holds out the cube for his son, watching Yunho put it against his lip. The wince on Yunho’s face is hard to miss. “Don’t forget to put some cream on it afterwards. Will you be okay to eat?” He turns towards the dining table and frowns at the dishes spread out on it, catching sight of his mate and daughter already waiting for them. “I think your mother made some soft tofu stew."

"Appa, it's fine, it's not like I broke anything," says Yunho shyly, but he does have to be extra careful not to open his mouth too widely. There are cuts inside his mouth too, and eating is much more of a problem than what Yunho anticipated. He carries on with his meal gingerly and the rest of his family finishes much earlier than he does. They've all left the table and Yunho's finishing the last of his stew when he hears the front door opening.

The first thing Changmin sees when he gets inside is his parents and Jihye in front of the television — his father has his glasses on, reading some kind of a legal brief, while his mother and sister are watching a drama. Jihye has her homework spread out on the coffee table, but she’s not working on them. Yunho is nowhere to be seen and Changmin initially thought the older boy’s already in his room doing revision because it’s later than when Changmin would normally arrive home after a team dinner, but he sees Yunho in the kitchen. By himself, which is a bit weird. Changmin grins and makes a detour towards him.

He’d missed Yunho, kinda wishes they had walked home together earlier.

Maybe he could’ve convinced Yunho to agree to another swimming lesson at the local pool.

Grin widening at the memory of their last (very distracting) lesson, Changmin leans down to drop a kiss to the crown of Yunho’s head. “What are you—” He stops when he gets a good look at Yunho’s face, every pleasant thought inside his head screeching into deathly silence. He doesn’t even notice the loud thump of his bag hitting the floor. “_What the fuck happened to you?_”

“Changmin, _shh_, it’s okay, calm down!” hisses Yunho. He eyes the living room, just hoping that his parents hadn’t heard the profanity. “It’s fine. _I’m _fine. Just calm down, go upstairs, wash up, and get changed. I’ll see you in your room after I’m finished eating.”

There’s no way in hell he’s able to calm down after seeing Yunho like that. It’s like the rest of the world no longer exists, except for the stark colours smeared over Yunho’s face and the lacerations marring his skin. Changmin stares at him for several more seconds, unable to find the words to articulate the rage surging to life inside him. Ignoring the plea, he grabs Yunho’s shoulder and demands, “Who did this to you?!”

“Who else,” says Yunho, physically pushing Changmin towards the stairs. “It’s _fine_, Changmin, seriously —”

Changmin goes deathly still, eyes narrowing and lips pulled back into a snarl as his brain makes the connection. _Han Jiwook_. That fucking lowlife. But before he can say anything else, they’re waylaid by Yanghyun’s sudden appearance. Apparently the commotion in the kitchen hasn’t gone unnoticed and their father is coming towards them. Yanghyun’s face doesn’t give anything away, but they can see how angry he is from the tight clench of his curled fingers. Changmin stands straighter, finding an echoing rage in his own veins and understanding that as the alphas of the family, they would’ve both found the attack on Yunho to be wholly unacceptable. And that they’d be baying for compensation in bloody terms.

Changmin opens his mouth to ask his father if they’re giving the Han a visit, but he’s cut short by Yanghyun saying, “Why weren’t you with your brother?”

There’s barbwires lurking behind the question, coiling around his throat in an instant. Changmin recoils from it, but somehow manages to stand his ground. The world tilts underneath his feet as he tries to grasp the meaning behind Yanghyun’s words. “I- I had a team dinner and—”

“You shouldn’t have left Yunho alone. I _told_ you not to, Changmin.” Yanghyun hasn’t raised his voice, but every single syllable feels like a sharp knife sliding through Changmin’s ribs. He’s finding it difficult to breathe and the disappointment he sees in Yanghyun’s eyes sits even heavier in his chest. “If you were there, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“_Appa_,” says Yunho quickly. He puts down his spoon, gets up from the chair, and grasps Changmin's arm protectively. He does not like where this is going _at all_. “Appa, it wasn’t his fault. I told you, he had no choice! It’s not like he can just—”

Yanghyun shakes his head, dismissing Yunho’s attempt to defend Changmin. This is too important for both of them to gloss over, when he’d already talked to his youngest son about his responsibility as an alpha and the injustice waiting for an omega out there in the world. Changmin should’ve known _better_. “Your brother needs to understand that _family comes first_.” He turns to Changmin, whose head had lowered and is now staring at the floor. “You know he’s being bullied at school and you still let it go on without telling me or your mother. Or even the principal. And now _this_. What if something worse had happened, huh? What if your brother _didn’t_ come home today, Changmin?”

Changmin jerks his head up so quickly he almost stumbles back. His mouth had gone dry, his heart trying to claw its way up his throat and there’s a ringing in the space between his ears that gets louder and louder and _louder_. He wets his lips and forces the words out, “There’s no way—” Only that his father is _right_. It could’ve happened. It had happened before to so many other omegas and he’d chosen to ignore the omnipresent danger Yunho’s facing in favour of a mere party. He doesn’t deserve to be _Yunho’s _alpha. Changmin inhales sharply, his eyes flickering from his father to Yunho.

And then he’s shrugging off Yunho’s hand on his arm, before fleeing up the stairs and slamming the door of his room shut. He throws his bag at the bed, misses by about a foot and sees it crash against the wall. Something must’ve broken when the bag slides to the floor, a sickening crunch and the sound reverberates inside his chest. That breaking sound, beyond repair.

He heaves in one shuddering breath after another, but that still doesn’t stop the frothy rage threatening to overwhelm his entire being. His fingers flex, curling and uncurling.

He needs to see Jiwook and—

Yunho look up at his father and shakes his head in disbelief. None of this is Changmin’s fault, and the fact that the blame is being put on _anyone_ besides Han Jiwook is downright ridiculous. “Appa, I told you, it wasn't his fault! The entire team was waiting for him!" he argues fervently.

“It’s his responsibility to keep you safe!” Yanghyun’s voice is now loud enough to not go without notice. Mihyun is standing, staring at them. Jihye is also no longer fixated on the television. Yanghyun pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “Just finish your dinner and get some rest. I’ll settle everything with the school later."

Yunho sends his father a glare, and abandoning what's left of his dinner, rushes upstairs after Changmin. He hesitates at Changmin's door, but then lifts his hand and knocks. "...Changmin? It's me."

Changmin's head whips towards the door, registering the knock and Yunho's voice. He crosses the room in a few strides and yanks open the door, the dark frown still etched deep onto his face. He hasn't shifted, but it feels as though he already has a mouthful of very sharp teeth and a riptide hunger for revenge to match. "I'm going out," he snaps, attempting to walk past Yunho.

Yunho's movement stutters a bit, as he sees the dark anger in Changmin. Yunho has seen Changmin angry before, certainly, but never quite like _this_. Like this, like he's going to be tearing into flesh in mere seconds. Changmin's eyes are already amber and wolfen, and Yunho takes in a sharp breath before wrapping his arm around his middle to pull him back. "Going where? Changmin, please, calm down. Please."

"He shouldn't have touched you _again_." Changmin grips Yunho's arm, tugging at it to loosen the hold. His red-streaked mind doesn't understand why Yunho is trying to stop him — if anything, his omega should understand why he's doing this. Why he _has_ to do this. He doesn't even realise how hard he's grabbing Yunho, fingers digging into skin and muscles mercilessly. The only thing he knows is that he's going to make Han Jiwook regret ever setting eyes on Yunho. "Appa is right. This is _my _fault and I'm going to fix this."

"No, it's not," says Yunho, and he pushes his chest against Changmin's back, just trying not to wince at the younger boy's painful grip around his arm. "It's not your fault. At all. Appa's wrong."

Changmin jerks away, forcefully stepping out of Yunho's arms and almost knocking the older boy off his feet. He whirls around and gestures heatedly at Yunho's face. "He put his hands on you! He hurt you!" His voice rises, blood pounding in his ears, and the rage inside him crests a whole new height. "There's no fucking way I'm letting him get away with this!"

"I'm pretty sure I hurt him more," says Yunho, and for the first time since the incident, wonders what's happened of Jiwook. Yunho was so riled up at the time that he can't remember much, but he can faintly recall hearing — and feeling — a crunch at the very end, and he wonders if Jiwook's had to go to a hospital. Not that Yunho cares, of course.

“Doesn’t matter.” Changmin shakes his head and turns away from Yunho, starting for the stairs. He doesn’t want to think about how Yunho had to defend himself, because Changmin wasn’t there. Because he’s an irresponsible alpha who doesn’t deserve someone like Yunho. How can he even promise Yunho anything else when he can’t even keep him safe. “Just stay here, hyung. I’ll be back soon.”

Yunho sighs. "Changmin, I know this isn't convincing with how my face is looking like right now, but you _know_ I'm not fragile," he says. He looks into Changmin's eyes and speaks quietly. "I was never your _responsibility_ to keep safe. You're my _mate_, not my bodyguard."

“What kind of a mate would I be if I can’t protect you?!”

Yunho frowns. "You shouldn't have to protect me. Changmin, you're— "

They're interrupted as the doorbell sounds, and they both turn their heads to the bottom of the stairs. Perhaps they were arguing too loudly and the neighbours are bothered. Yunho hears his father's footsteps across the hallway to answer the door and there’s a few minutes of muffled conversation, before they see Jihye mounting the stairs. Her face is white, drained of colours, and her eyes are fixed on Yunho.

“Appa wants to see you downstairs,” she says, voice quivering. Her eyes skitter from Yunho to Changmin, and then to Yunho again.“There’s a police officer asking for you.”

Changmin’s first instinct is to step in front of Yunho, demanding a sharp, “Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about— about an assault—”

Yunho feels the blood draining from his face. This is not a scenario that he'd ever imagined for himself in a million years — police coming to take him away, for _whatever_ reason. "B-But—"

The rest of his sentence never makes it out of his mouth; he's so shocked he's rooted to the spot, and he feels the room spinning around him. _Oh my God._

A loud, crunching sound snaps their attention to Changmin, whose face has twisted into a fierce snarl. Almost entirely animalistic, without even shifting. The murderous rage radiating from him is dark and primal, and his right fist is flush against the wall. Jihye whimpers, her beta instinct urging her to bare her throat to the larger alpha, even if a part of her knows that Changmin is family. She takes a few steps back, deferring to Changmin’s authority, and watches quietly as her brothers lock eyes with each other.

Changmin reaches for Yunho.

“I'm going to kill him.”

.

**tbc**

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	16. Chapter 16

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Changmin had never been inside a police station before and he doesn’t think he likes the experience very much. The bright lights, the uncomfortable chairs, the _waiting_ — it’s like being stuck in some kind of a surrealist movie, because he’d never expected to experience this in the first place. His mother sits next to him, frowning as she taps at the screen of her phone. They’ve been sitting there for nearly thirty minutes, since Yanghyun and Yunho were steered into the depth of the station by the officers that had come to their house much earlier.

Apparently someone had accused Yunho of assault, of causing grievous bodily harm.

Three guesses as to who filed the police report.

Changmin leans forward and braces his elbows against his thighs. He curls and uncurls his fingers, knuckles shifting under the skin as he contemplates the floor. He’s vacillating between anger and worry, both for Yunho — angry that the older boy is subjected to this sheer fucking injustice, and worrying about how this would affect Yunho afterwards. It’s hard enough for him to have to deal with Jinwook before and now _this_. Yunho deserves none of this bullshit. Changmin heaves out a frustrated grunt and straightens, bringing his hand up to run through his hair. He wishes he’d been allowed to go with Yunho, instead of being stuck here. Doing nothing.

Mihyun glances at him and her expression softens. She places a hand on Changmin’s thigh. “They’re just taking his statement. You know your father won’t let anything happen to him.”

“I know,” Changmin mutters, still disgruntled despite the assurance. He makes a poor company right now, but hardly cares. “Yunho-hyung shouldn’t even be here. He did nothing wrong. It was self-defence, right?”

Mihyun sighs. “There’s a procedure they need to follow—”

She doesn’t get to finish her sentence because the next second, Changmin jumps to his feet when he sees Yanghyun and Yunho emerging from one of the hallways leading to the back. Yanghyun’s face is a careful, deliberate blank, but Yunho looks exhausted. And pale. Changmin rushes towards him, wants nothing more than to wrap Yunho up in his arms and bring him home, but he’s stopped by a look from their father.

_Behave yourself_, the look says. A warning. He turns to Mihyun and says, “We need to talk to Dongmin about this. Did you call him?”

“Yes, and he said he’ll contact the rest—”

Changmin ignores the conversation, focusing on Yunho. His chest constricts at the downturned curl of the older boy’s mouth, at the smudges of shadows underneath his eyes. He touches Yunho’s arm, drawing closer. “You okay, hyung?”

Yunho forces himself to nod. "I'm okay." Giving the statement did quite a number on his emotions and it was exhausting to say the least, but at least his father was there for support, and to guide him when he needed it.

Just _knowing_ that he's at a police station makes him so anxious to the point where he feels like jumping out of his skin. He just wants to go home and sleep for the rest of his life.

That is, if they don't throw him in jail.

He blinks back the tears that are starting to gather in his eyes for the nth time today, and looks at his feet instead.

“What did they tell you? Are they going to arrest that asshole for lying about everything?” In Changmin’s mind, that’s the only course of action. It’s obvious Yunho is innocent — there has to be a severe repercussion for making a false report. It wouldn’t be justice otherwise.

Yunho shakes his head. "Appa said we'll talk about it at home."

Yanghyun looks over at them and that’s the moment when Changmin realises just how pissed off their father is. While Yanghyun might wear his poker face like a true professional in a place where he’s done business before, there’s no mistaking the anger that simmers underneath his calm facade. Changmin decides that whoever is at the receiving end of Yanghyun’s wrath deserves the storm that’s coming for them. Mihyun draws Yanghyun’s attention back to her, speaking in a low voice about the options they have when it comes to dealing with the accusation levered on Yunho. Both of them are deep in legal jargon and processing, going back to their roots as colleagues before they were mates.

Changmin knows they’re going to deal with this and concentrates on Yunho instead, curling an arm around Yunho’s waist. Both for Yunho’s benefit and his, as he can’t do anything more until they get home. They don’t have to wait long — Yanghyun goes over to talk to the sergeant manning the main desk and their mother ushers them out of the station to wait in the car.

“We’ll be right out,” she says, handing over the keys before following her husband.

Once they’re safely ensconced in the backseat of the car, away from prying eyes, Changmin pulls Yunho into him. His embrace is tight, unrelenting. “I was worried they’re going to keep you for the night.”

In the darkness of the evening and in Changmin’s arms, Yunho finds himself leaning into the other boy. Although he doesn’t expect the tension in his body to leave completely, he finds himself relax, if only just a little more, in the security of the warm embrace. He feels a tear roll down the corner of his eye onto the bridge of his nose, and he sniffles as tears cloud his vision.

“I don’t know what I would have done if they kept me away from you,” whispers Yunho quietly. He lets out a shuddering breath. He reaches for Changmin’s hand and squeezes. “I really… don’t think I can continue on like this. Being an omega — it’s a lot harder than I ever… ever imagined it to be.”

Changmin brings up a hand to cradle the back of Yunho’s head, fingers brushing the soft hair he finds there. He would never understand how it is to be an omega, but after everything Yunho has been through these past few months post-presenting, he can’t even think of anything comforting to say. Despite their pack’s assurance that omegas are cherished and protected, Yunho’s situation is the exact opposite. Changmin leans back to press a kiss to Yunho’s forehead, then his cheek. His lips graze Yunho’s when he says, “I’ll always be with you. _Always_. We’ll get through this together, I promise.”

Yunho closes his eyes and allows himself to take that in. "I love you."

Changmin echoes the words back to Yunho, pulling him into another kiss before he lets go. He rubs his thumb over the damp skin of Yunho's under-eye, hates that this isn't the first time Jiwook had made Yunho cry. "Did they tell you anything?"

Yunho swallows and wipes his tears away himself, before his parents can see him like this. "They said they'll have to do more investigations before they do anything," manages Yunho. Seeing the scowl reappear on Changmin's face, he adds, "They weren't mean."

A growl rumbles at the back of Changmin’s throat, doesn’t like that they have to wait to know anything more. It’s bullshit that they’re not given the chance to confront Jiwook, to dispute his allegations. “Maybe I should go and have a talk with him.”

Yunho hears him, but the idea is too ridiculous, he doesn't even answer. There is something on his mind, though — kind of crazy that this is what's on his mind after all of this, but still there nonetheless. "Changmin, I was thinking…" Changmin turns his head to look at Yunho. "Maybe… I'll need an extra year to join you in university. There's just… a lot going on, and I think I might just need… more time."

Changmin reels back from the mental image of him mauling Jiwook and refocuses on Yunho. He’s convinced he’d heard him wrong, but the look on Yunho’s face suggests otherwise. “You’re kidding, right? There’s no way—” His face scrunches into a frown. “I’ll take a year off too. You _promised_ we’d always be together.”

“That’s not — That’s not right,” says Yunho, shaking his head. “It’s just… I think I need more time to prepare. I don’t want you to have to sacrifice anything for this. It’s not… It’s not fair, and it’s not right.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Changmin reaches out to grab Yunho’s shoulders, so that he can look him straight in the eye. So Yunho can see how serious he is about this — there’s no force on Earth that can keep Changmin away from Yunho. Nothing and no one else. Not even their parents, their pack or whoever unfortunate enough to stand in Changmin’s way. “If you need more time, I’ll wait for you. I’m not leaving my mate behind. I won’t.”

Yunho lets out a watery chuckle — there’s no way he’d ever let Changmin do something as stupid as decline his acceptance to one of the most prestigious universities in the country — but even so, the words are nice. As always. He lets his head fall onto Changmin’s shoulder again. They stay like that for a little while, Yunho just taking comfort in Changmin’s silent support, until their parents finally walk out of the police station towards the car. Both of their parents’ faces look downright glacial, and Yunho automatically sits up straight as the car doors open.

Yanghyun looks at Changmin with his palm open, and Changmin drops the keys into his hand. He starts the car wordlessly as they all buckle themselves in. Yunho is playing with his fingers when his mother finally breaks the silence. “It’s too early for you boys to worry. Just forget about this whole thing for now.”

Changmin doubts it’s as easy as that, when Yunho’s entire future hinges on the words of a liar and a bully. However, he knows that if there’s anything to be done, their parents would be the ones to figure things out. It doesn’t matter how much he wishes he can retaliate; anything he does to Jiwook would be detrimental to Yunho’s already-precarious situation and he wouldn’t want to put more weight onto the thin ice they’re treading on. He twines his fingers with Yunho’s, squeezing tightly the entire trip home. The thought of being separated from the older boy nauseates him and Changmin tries to shut out Yunho’s words from earlier, although they insist on lingering at the back of his head.

Like an echo, over and over again.

Jihye is still awake when they file through the front door, pouncing onto Yunho immediately. Changmin doesn’t really want to let Yunho go, but he figures that Jihye must’ve been stewing with worries when she’s left behind and gives their sister some space. “Oppa, is everything okay? They didn’t do anything to you?!”

Yunho lets himself be comforted by his sister, and returns the hug. Despite everything, he knows he’s lucky to have his family, his pack. “I’m fine. The police officers were nice to me.”

“Are you sure?” Jihye’s eyes narrow, looking him over and checking for imaginary wounds. She’s much shorter than Yunho, but that doesn’t stop her from fussing over him and the entire scene leaves their parents exchanging amused looks. Once she’s satisfied that Yunho is relatively unharmed (she doesn’t miss his red-rimmed eyes, but decides not to ask), she leans closer to whisper, “Kyunghee-unni told me that she knew what happened.”

Yunho feels himself freeze for a second. “What… What do you mean? How?”

“She’s friends with someone from that other pack. They don’t even like him much, y’know.” Jihye raises her voice, glancing at their parents. And Changmin, who’s clenching his jaw so tightly it looks as if he’s about to pop some veins. “She said Jiwook’s family went to the police against the pack’s wish. That’s not good, right, Appa?”

Yanghyun shakes his head, but he looks thoughtful. “You’re right.” Another look passes between him and Mihyun, before he turns to his children. His voice brooks no argument when he says, “It’s late and some of you have school tomorrow.” His expression gentles when he looks at Yunho and Yanghyun rubs his knuckles along the line of Yunho’s jaw, a gesture meant to offer comfort. “You’re staying at home until we sort this mess out, son. It’s better this way.”

Yunho nods, and even with the potential disaster that this whole thing could turn out to be, he is reassured that he has his family and his pack. That he _is_ loved, and that they are going to protect him. They all make their way upstairs, and Changmin naturally slips into Yunho’s room after him. Once there, they close the door behind them and they both fall onto the bed, exhausted.

“There goes another day,” muses Yunho.

Changmin turns to lie on his side, running a hand over Yunho’s stomach and rucking up his shirt, so he can press his palm against bare skin. He feels a tiny shiver rippling through where they’re connected and sighs softly. “Everything will be okay. It has to be.”

Yunho places his hands on Changmin’s chest lightly and closes his eyes. “I know. Because you’re here.”

“_That’s right_.” He scoots closer and buries his nose into Yunho’s shoulder, inhaling deeply. “So you should forget about making me go to university alone, because that’s not gonna happen.”

Yunho’s eyes fly open, and he sits up. Changmin’s hands fall from his waist where they were.

Changmin stares up at Yunho, more than just a little bit confused. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I need to study then,” replies Yunho, and he makes to get up from the bed. “You can go to bed.”

“Wha—” It takes Changmin’s brain a few seconds to process what’s happening and when he finally does move, it’s to wrestle Yunho back into bed. There’s a brief scuffle, but Changmin manages to pin Yunho in place and crouches above him. “It’s nearly midnight. And you had a shitty day.” He frowns. “The last thing you need right now is to study.”

“I could never forgive myself if I don’t get in this year,” says Yunho. If he doesn’t go to jail, that is. He shudders at the possibility. “I need to study so I don’t destroy _both_ of our hard work.”

“Hyung, it’s almost _midnight_.” Changmin lowers himself to lie right next to Yunho, using an arm and a leg to continue holding the other boy close to him. “Study tomorrow.” He noses at Yunho’s neck, pressing feather-light kisses there. “Sleep now.”

Yunho worries — he worries and worries and _worries_, but there’s no winning against Changmin. He lowers his head back down and sighs. It’s not doing anything for his anxieties, but Changmin’s tight embrace is. He reluctantly lets his body relax and winds an arm around the younger boy’s waist. It only hits him then just how _tired_ he is, and he lets his eyelids fall closed. “Okay,” concedes Yunho. Just one night, then. He’ll make up for this tomorrow. “Good night, Changmin.”

.

Yanghyun strides down the hallway towards the principal's office, ignoring the curious looks from students milling around before the beginning of their first class. It reminds him of all the other times he went to his children's schools for one reason or another —not all of those visits had been pleasant, as this one is shaping up to be. He'd called his secretary to inform her that he's going to come into the office late, that he has a personal matter to attend to. She's worked with him long enough to understand the nuances behind his message and didn't ask any further questions.

Or perhaps she’d heard what happened, which is the most likely scenario.

Anger still simmers underneath Yanghyun’s skin, hasn't abated since he'd opened his front door to a couple of police officers informing him that his son is being accused of assault. He'd talked to the detective who caught the case and was assured that they're still collecting evidence before an actual charge is pressed. The detective was kind enough to let him see the report filed against Yunho and Yanghyun had to take several deep breaths to stop himself from ripping up the paper right then and there. There’s also a medical report clipped together — a fractured arm and torn ligaments. Superficial bruising. Some lacerations. Everything Han Jiwook no doubt deserves, but it’s not something Yanghyun could share with the detective. Not when they’re supposed to be impartial when investigating the case and he wouldn’t want to put the detective in an awkward place. It's a familiar procedure he’d been through for some of his cases, but one that he wouldn't have thought any of his family members would have to experience.

Especially Yunho, who's grown up bright and even-tempered and a son any father would've been proud to have. 

Mr. Cheon is already waiting for him at the office and once Yanghyun walks into his room, he closes the door. Locks it.

Yanghyun had asked for a private discussion, considering the gravity of the matter.

"I'm sorry that we're meeting under another unfortunate circumstance," Mr. Cheon starts, rounding his table towards his chair. He seems to mean that as well, which is more than Yanghyun could ask for. “I heard about what happened between Han Jiwook and your son. Please, have a seat.”

Lowering himself into one of the chairs at his side of the table, Yanghyun takes a few seconds to allow both of them to settle. He doesn’t want to come across as too abrasive this early, although the school’s apparent lack of concern when it comes to bullying had inadvertently led to his son’s current predicament. “Mr. Cheon, I’ve communicated my concern when you called me in after their first altercation. I was under the impression that Han Jiwook would not be allowed to harass my son thereafter.” His face hardens, as does his voice. “Imagine my surprise when I found out that he’s been spreading slander about my son’s status and encouraging other students to act against him.”

The principal nods. "I can imagine. And I will be honest with you, it was a surprise for us as well. There is only so much that teachers are privy to in terms of a student's relationship with his peers, and in this case, unfortunately, we were not made aware of the situation. The other piece is that—" he hesitates, and Yanghyun narrows his eyes. "...As teachers, I hope you can understand that we must be impartial to the students. All of them."

“Impartial?” Yanghyun’s voice has taken on a glacial tone, to match the stare he’s levelling at the other man. “Impartiality, in this case, doesn’t not excuse inaction. Han Jiwook had used the knowledge of my son’s status against him, time and time again. He told lies that perpetuate harmful omega stereotypes and attempted to alienate Yunho from his friends. And throughout all this, my son had not retaliated. Until he was forced to defend himself.” Yanghyun pauses to draw in a breath, more to calm himself down than for the benefit of the principal. “What the school has done is to condone systematic bullying, Mr. Cheon. And discrimination.”

Mr. Cheon raises up both hands defensively. “I understand how you feel about all of this, Mr. Jung. Of course, in Yunho’s perspective, it’s —” he nods to communicate his understanding to Yanghyun. “I completely agree with you. On the other hand, the other student has told a completely different story, and I’m afraid there is no — no way to verify who’s telling the right one. Both students are very well liked by their peers, and no one has any evidence. And yes, it’s quite clear, Yunho and Jiwook don’t get along with each other, but to place the responsibility solely on one student, it’s —” he shakes his head. “Our hands are tied in this situation. There is no clear one victim here.”

“Let me get this straight.” Yanghyun bites off the words, grinds them through the clenching of his jaw as he strains to keep himself in check. This is supposed to be a civilised discussion, but he’s rapidly losing his temper and it’s not how he envisioned the visit to have gone. “Are you telling me that you will do _nothing_ to protect my son from the harassment and humiliation he’s facing, just because he refuses to give in to the whims an undeserving alpha? Is this the kind of lesson that your school imparts to its students?!”

“No, that’s not at all what I’m saying,” defends Mr. Cheon. “I mean there is nothing I _can_ do when the only evidence we have is ‘_he said, she said_’. I’m sure you understand that.”

Yanghyun’s fingers curl into tight fists and he has to keep them in his lap, instead of hammering them into the desk. “If you still insist on taking this stand, I have no other choice than to pull Yunho out of school.”

Mr. Cheon sighs. “I would recommend against that, Mr. Jung, for the sake of his school record. We would have to mark his absences as they are. I’d encourage you to give it some more thought.”

“Special provisions have to be made, when the student’s safety is at stake. I will contact the Education Board myself and forward our correspondence to your office accordingly.” It’s an ultimatum and Yanghyun straightens, buttoning up his suit jacket as he does so. He doesn’t offer the principal his hand before his departure. “A word of advice: review your policy before something worse happens. It might just be a fight this time around, but you never know what could happen in the future. Best be prepared.”

The principal looks like he might retort, but he opts to nod instead. “I will wait for communication from you and the Board then. Good to see you again, Mr. Jung.”

To say that Yanghyun is frustrated would be a gross understatement of massive proportions. While the principal had pointed out that the school couldn’t be expected to side with one student against another, it’s disingenuous to decide on such an irresponsible response without even making an effort to investigate the matter further. Changmin had told him explicitly that the harassment was witnessed by other students and the school should’ve done more to get to the roots of the problem. Discrimination against the wolves population is something his office deals with all the time and it’s disheartening to be reminded that the issues still persist, even more so when it involves internal strife between members of their own community.

Yanghyun pauses in front of a class to look at a group of students chattering away to each other and laughing in chorus. They’re bright and vibrant, and they make Yanghyun’s heart ache.

That should’ve been part of Yunho’s life. Enjoying the life of a carefree student, without fear of being ostracised or attacked for who he is.

Who he can’t help being.

The heartache lingers, persistent as storm clouds, and Yanghyun arrives home to see his wife in the kitchen. Cutting up some vegetables by the counter and he comes up to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. There’s nothing playful in the gesture — he’s tired, bone-weary, and he feels it in the fibre of his every being.

“I told the principal that we’re keeping Yunho at home until his exams,” he murmurs, forehead resting on Mihyun’s shoulder.

Mihyun sighs too, involuntarily — she can read between the lines, and knows that the school must have refused to do anything to protect Yunho. She bites her lip and turns to face her mate. “Don’t worry too much. Yunho’s going to be fine.”

“He should be at school, enjoying his last year there.” Yanghyun exhales slowly, eyes closed as he allows Mihyun’s warmth to anchor him in place. “What have I done all these years? If I can’t even make sure our son can live his life normally?”

"Honey, this is not on you," says Mihyun, but her heart is aching too. "You can't control other people's actions. You're doing what is in your power to keep Yunho safe, and it's the right thing to do."

There’s little comfort in Mihyun’s words and he tightens his arms around her for a few seconds, before letting go with a heavy heart. It’s his responsibility as alpha and a father to keep his pack safe, and he’s failing to do so when Yunho needs him the most. He would have to contact the Education Board before the day ends, but his main priority right now is to let his son know the outcome of his meeting with the principal today. He can’t even imagine how devastated Yunho would be, especially since he only had a short sliver of time to go before his graduation. If given the choice, Yanghyun doesn’t want to deprive him of the experience of spending those last few months with his friends, but it’s more important for him to be protected from further abuse.

Yanghyun trudges up the stairs after grabbing a juice box from the fridge and takes a deep breath before knocking on Yunho’s door.

Yunho looks up from his studies, turns his head towards the door. He's been sitting at his desk with his books open for the past hour, but he doesn't seem to be able to make much progress. The distraction is almost welcome. "Come in," he says.

“Hey, son!” Yanghyun has to hide his wince at how high-pitched his voice is, forcing at the faux cheerfulness with an extra wide grin plastered all over his face. He notices the odd look he gets from Yunho and decides that maybe he should tone it down a bit, before this gets uncomfortable real fast. Walking up to Yunho, he glances at the books on the table. “Studying hard?”

Yunho scratches his head, a bit confused at the sudden change in his father's tone. "Umm… I'm trying…?"

“Trying?” Yanghyun echoes. He studies Yunho’s face closely, a slight furrow appearing between his brows. “Is there something on your mind you want to share?”

"No, Appa," says Yunho quickly, "I'm just. Trying to concentrate." _Which I can't, because I miss Changmin._

“Oh. Well, maybe you just need a break.” Yanghyun places the juice box on the table, careful to keep it away from any of the books since it’s starting to shed drops of condensation. He rounds the table and sits on the bed, elbows on his knees as he looks at Yunho. Who still wears the bruises he’d gotten out of his most recent encounter with Han Jiwook, stark and ugly on his pale skin. Not for the first time, Yanghyun considers marching up to the Han family and demand reparation. Preferably of the physical kind. “I met Mr. Cheon today.”

Yunho feels his throat closing. It's a double-edged sword — he doesn't know what's worse: being kept away from Changmin for the whole day, or having to go to school and putting himself through all the bullying. "What did he say?" he manages.

Yanghyun chooses not to answer that question. Yunho doesn’t need to know that the school considers inaction to be the best course of action. He summons a smile, although it feels much too plastic. “We decided that it’s best for you to stay home until your exams. I think it’s good; means you can do your revision without being distracted.”

Yunho gasps. He had thought that he would get a few days off from school, a week if he's lucky; he never imagined that it would be this long. "Wh… what — Mr. Cheon was— he said that was okay?"

“It’ll be fine,” Yanghyun assures him, patting Yunho’s knee and keeping the smile from sliding off his face. “This is okay with you, right?”

"I mean —" he hesitates. Changmin is one thing, but also, _school _is the other. He remembers how much he used to like going to school, and seeing all his friends and playing and laughing together with them, and he bites his lip; but clearly, he's lost most of his friends and those days are never going to return. And Changmin — yes, that part is the worst, easily — but another part of him nags at him to look at the bigger picture. If he uses this time wisely, maybe they wouldn't have to wait a year to go to university together after all.

Yunho starts nodding slowly, until another much more ominous thought crosses his mind, tightening his chest and making his face feel hot. His voice shakes a little as he asks, "He… didn't say he doesn't want me at school because he thinks I'm… that I'm a criminal, right…?"

Yanghyun jerks back a little, as if he’d been punched in the guts. “No! Of course not! You’re not a—” He takes in a breath, inhaling a little sharply that it only amplifies the hurt crowding the inside of his chest. “You’re not a criminal, Yunho. You did nothing wrong and if anyone tries to get to you, they will have to go through me. Understand?”

Yunho nods. "I just… hope that all of this isn't for nothing," he whispers, looking away from his father."I never wanted to let you down."

“You’ve never let me down.” Yanghyun’s voice softens and he smiles at Yunho, the hand on Yunho’s knee squeezing it gently. “If anything, you make me proud with how strong you are. Even after everything that happened. I couldn’t have asked for a better son, Yunho.”

Yunho knows that's a lie, but it's heartwarming to hear anyway. "Thank you, Appa."

Yanghyun rises to his feet, stepping forward to ruffle Yunho’s hair. It’s been a long while since he last did so and his heart clenches at the realisation, makes his smile falter for a second. “Your mother’s almost done with lunch, so you should come down soon. Don’t work yourself too hard.”

"I'm not," reassures Yunho, and he feels slightly guilty because he knows he should be working harder. He turns back to his books for a second before turning to his father. "Are you going to eat lunch at home today?"

There’s a lunch appointment with an attorney working on another case penned into his book and a couple meetings after, but Yanghyun figures that work can wait. He should be spending more time with Yunho, with the rest of the family as they weather through this together. He’s devoted so much of his life fighting other people’s battles that it’s about time he takes a step back, even if it’s only for a short while. “Sure.” Giving Yunho’s shoulder a pat, he grins. “We can get dessert before picking up your brother and sister from school. How does that sound?”

Yunho squints a bit, doesn't understand why his father is rewarding him for _anything_. Because Yunho's created such trouble, and this is eating up everyone's time. He bites his lip. "Is that… okay…?"

“Of course. We might have to listen to Changmin complain if he finds out, but that’s the only danger so far.”

Yunho's first instinct is to say that they should also pick up dessert for Changmin and Jihye, and bring some back for their mother, too, but a small, more selfish part of him wants to spend some time alone with his father as well. And share a moment together, just the two of them. So he smiles, and with an internal apology to Changmin, and nods. "I'd like that."

.

Changmin isn't expecting to see their father waiting for them at the gates and he trails after Jihye, the beginning of a frown on his face smoothing out when he sees Yunho in the front seat. School isn’t the same without the older boy, even more so when he has to deal with some of their friends asking him what had happened that leads to Yunho’s absence. He suspects there are already rumours circulating about the altercation between Yunho and Jiwook, and Kyunghee confronted him earlier to ask if it’s true that Yunho had been arrested. It only serves to worsen his already tumultuous mood to know that he can’t stop people from talking — he doesn’t want Yunho to have to hear any of this when he eventually comes back to school. The older boy already has enough bullshit to deal with after he’d presented and it’s infuriating how things are shifting from bad to worse in such a short span of time.

“Enjoying your day off?” Changmin teases once he’s inside the car, wishing Yunho’s at the back with him instead of Jihye. “Why are you playing hooky with Appa?”

"I'm n-not!" says Yunho defensively, and he swallows again, hoping Changmin's ultra-sensitive nose won't be able to smell the cupcakes he just had with his father.

Jihye chimes in with a “I wanna skip school tomorrow too!”, which prompts Yanghyun to laugh and tell her in no uncertain terms that he would take away her phone privileges if she even tries to do that. It’s a bit weird to see their father out of the office at this time of the day, but Changmin figures that he must be on a break. Ignoring Jihye’s indignant noises, he leans forward and sticks his face into the small space between the door and Yunho’s seat. The familiar, comforting whiff of Yunho’s scent makes his smile curl wider and he’s about to ask if Yunho misses him when his nose picks up the underlying sugary sweetness lingering around Yunho.

Changmin’s eyes narrow as he takes another deep breath. “Why do you smell like cupcakes?”

Yunho stops breathing. "Why do I smell like what?"

Pushing his nose as close to Yunho as he can, Changmin repeats, “Cupcakes. You smell like cupcakes. Strawberry and lemon meringue.” He sees the guilty look on Yunho’s face and wow, this must be what betrayal feels like. “How could you, hyung.”

Yunho pulls at his father's sleeve desperately; He was supposed to help if this happened, but his father has thrown him to the wolves — pretty much literally — and he's pretending he has nothing to do with this. "It's— cupcake-flavoured soap. I mean, cupcake-_scented_ soap." This must be the first time Yunho's ever lied to Changmin. He squeezes his eyes shut and in his head, thinks, _I'm sorry, please don't kill me._

Changmin sniffs theatrically, pulling his head back and throwing himself against the seat as the car stops at a red light. He’s cramming in as much disappointment and heartbreak into his voice when he says, “I will never trust again.”

Yunho cringes and with his face scrunched up, turns around to face the younger boy. "I'm sorry." He tries to smile.

“You’re such a drama queen.” Jihye’s rolling her eyes at Changmin and he very much wants to tell her to mind her own business. He’s this close to guilt-tripping Yunho into maybe allowing him to do whatever he wants (and Changmin can already think of a few things he wants to do to Yunho) and Jihye’s going to ruin it. She leans forward to pat Yunho’s shoulder, the very picture of a sweet little sister when she’s anything but. “Yunho-oppa, you deserve all the cupcakes in the world.”

Despite Jihye's reassurance, Yunho still feels guilty as he eyes Changmin, whose head is lolling back as if he's just _died_ because he didn't eat a _cupcake_. He reaches back until the tips of his fingers can find Changmin's knee. "I'll make it up to you," says Yunho apologetically. Though he's not sure how.

Changmin throws Jihye a triumphant grin (and gets another eye-roll in return), before he heaves a deep sigh. The brush of Yunho’s fingers against his knee is fleeting and he moves forward to wrap his arms around the seat and the older boy in it. It takes his entire self-control not to sound like a sleazy old man, “It’s a promise then.”

Okay, maybe it feels a bit like he's been scammed — but the feeling is fleeting, and he did eat the cupcakes without Changmin after all. "A promise," repeats Yunho. He pats Changmin's hands.

Yanghyun glances at his sons, heartened to see that they’re as close as ever. Life isn’t very kind to Yunho at the moment, but it takes the weight off of his shoulders to know that no matter what happens, his children would be there for each other. The warm feeling inside his chest doesn’t last for long, though, courtesy of seeing an unfamiliar car parked in the curb in front of their home. There’s no one inside the car and Yanghyun has to wonder if they’re already inside, if Mihyun had forgotten to inform him that they’re expecting guests. It’s not something she would’ve done and a stirring of trepidation churns inside his stomach. Yanghyun kills the engine once they’re in the driveway and watches Jihye bounce out of the car, followed by her brothers.

Changmin has an arm around Yunho’s shoulder, whispering something into his ear that makes Yunho laugh as they make their way to the front door.

There’s no trace of that laughter when Yanghyun steps inside, only to see Changmin standing in front of Yunho and Jihye. His stance is aggressively protective, a sight Yanghyun wouldn’t have expected to see in their home and his own instincts are telling him that something is wrong. He steps around them to see Mihyun is heading for him, brows drawn tight and mouth pinched into a look of displeasure.

“They’re here.”

Yanghyun frowns. “They?” He looks into the living room, feeling his hackles rise when he’s greeted by an arrogant smile on a face he has only met once before. Han Sangcheol. And right next to him is his son. Yanghyun clenches his teeth, molars grinding when he thinks about what Han Jiwook had done to Yunho. “What are they doing here?”

Mihyun feels his own teeth clenching. She hadn't turned them away because she didn't want to make this bad situation even worse, and if they were here to let them know that they'd be withdrawing the charges, she didn't want to be the one to ruin the chance for them all to be saved from this headache. And to be perfectly honest with herself, as a lone beta in the house, she was ever so wary of her own safety when the two alphas approached their doorstep and demanded to be let in.

She shakes her head. "They haven't said. I'm hoping they're here to make amends."

Yanghyun opens his mouth, but it’s Changmin that gets his words in, “No way those assholes are going to apologise.”

"_Shh,_" says Mihyun, taking a glance in the Hans' direction to make sure they haven't heard. "_Behave_, honey."

Changmin’s expression tells Yanghyun that behaving is the last thing in his mind right now. Yanghyun doesn’t blame his younger son — he doesn’t believe those two are here to extend an olive branch. Not after the police report. He turns to his children, his eyes immediately registering how pale Yunho is. “Go to your rooms. Your mother and I will handle this.”

Yunho's only too happy to comply, but his mother's hand closes around his forearm as he tries to rush upstairs. "They want to talk to Yunho too, Yanghyun."

.

**tbc**

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	17. Chapter 17

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Yunho presses his thumbnail into the flesh of his finger with his mouth tightly shut. As if it wasn't enough for them to humiliate him by sending him to the police station, they're here now, to say the embarrassing, hurtful words to his own family.

His mother coaxed him to stay for the conversation —_"Let's stay civil and I'm sure they will, too,_" she'd said, but Yunho doesn't believe that in the slightest. Yunho knows his parents are on his side, but he knows, it's only going to be a matter of time until they realize that he's not worth all of this headache and angst, and that it would be better for them to leave Yunho to fend for himself. His worst nightmares are slowly coming true, he realizes, and he bites his lip and keeps his gaze on his fingers.

As he digs his nail harder into his finger, a warm hand covers them, stopping him from hurting himself further. Changmin’s hand squeezes Yunho’s, and he opts to hold Changmin’s hand instead.

“If Yunho-hyung’s staying, I am too,” Changmin says, tilting his face defiantly. His narrowed eyes are fixated on their unwanted guests and there’s nothing that would dissuade him from being there for Yunho. His grip on Yunho tightens, moving to stand just slightly in front him to mirror his protective stance from earlier. “I’m not leaving.”

Yanghyun exhales slowly, but he says nothing as he turns to head for the living room to see why the Hans are there. He knows well enough that there’s no use trying to dislodge Changmin from the situation. Han Sangcheol and Han Jiwook stand to meet him, the older man holding out his hand to shake Yanghyun’s. He’s an older version of Jiwook, right down to the arrogant smirk plastered all over his face, and the ever-present anger Yanghyun feels towards the two flares anew. He hates seeing them inside his home, a place that should be a sanctuary for his family, and he wants them gone as soon as possible.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” Han Sangcheol says, but his demeanor is far from apologetic, and he directs a faux smile at both Yunho and Changmin that makes Yanghyun’s hackles rise. “I was hoping to discuss the… problem between our sons and it seems prudent to do so quickly, before it gets worse.” He glances at Jiwook, who gives them a surly nod. The boy has a hand in a sling, the evidence of the fight he had with Yunho thrown into Yanghyun’s face. Sangcheol’s drawling voice continues, “Yunho, right? And this must be Changmin?”

Yunho doesn’t want to be intimidated by them, but they are _intimidating_, especially together; they’re large, very _present_ alphas, and although he knows that he did nothing wrong, he finds himself having to clench his teeth not to feel like crawling into a hole with his tail between his legs. He shifts a bit, and lets Changmin’s shoulder shield one half of him.

His mother is being impressively calm and civil as she asks them all to sit down, Yunho thinks — but as Mihyun takes the seat next to Yanghyun in the living room, he sees that she’s clenching her fist, too, so hard that her knuckles have turned white.

Sangcheol heeds the invitation, settling down into his seat again as Jiwook drops heavily next to him. Yanghyun takes his place opposite Sangcheol, giving nothing away as he regards the two with the kind of imperious aloofness he usually reserves for those he doesn’t like, but has to tolerate. “I would appreciate it if you can call my office first to arrange an appointment, instead of coming over to our house like this.” He pauses and his voice is sharper when he continues, “Especially after you’ve filed a police report against my son.”

“Ah, yes. That’s the reason why we’re here, see.” Sangcheol looks as if he’s enjoying this, being able to rile Yanghyun up and assuming the upper hand. His head swivels to look directly at Yunho, his smile widening into one of sheer nastiness. “All this unpleasantness could’ve been avoided if your omega knew his place, it’s as simple as that.”

The reaction to Sangcheol’s words is immediate. Changmin lets out a snarl, looks as though he’d like nothing more than to lunge over the table and rip into the much older man. He’s only stopped by a warning stare from Yanghyun and Yunho’s hand on his forearm, nails digging into his skin in the bid to anchor him in place. Yanghyun’s own jaw is tightly clenched and it takes the entirety of his self-control not to kick Han Sangcheol and Han Jiwook out right at that moment. To hear Yunho be demeaned in such a way is enough justification for him to retaliate, but there must be something more. He doesn’t think Han Sangcheol is idiotic enough to be there just to antagonise them with petty insults.

“I don’t know the way of your pack, but in ours, everyone stands equal. As we all should. Yunho knows his place and it’s with us.” Yanghyun pats Yunho’s knee to punctuate the point, letting his hand rest there. “Why exactly are you here? Because if you have nothing else to say, the door’s that way.”

Yunho hears his father say what he said, but he's still flushing red. Surely, different packs have different customs, and who's to say who's doing it right? Maybe if his father wasn't a rights lawyer, his pack would have different expectations for him, and maybe, in another pack's eyes and maybe even their own, Yunho's behaviour is downright disrespectful. And maybe the fact that his father has to spell out what he just said means that Yunho's pack is the minority.

The stories Hyeja told him about other packs auctioning off their omegas creep into his consciousness again, and he hangs his head.

Changmin threads his fingers with Yunho, sensing the older boy’s distress in the souring of his scent. It calls to his alpha instincts, to the aggression he’s trying so very hard to keep just underneath the surface of his humanity and it’s a rapidly losing battle. Everything about this meeting is _wrong_ — they shouldn’t be here. They shouldn’t have been allowed to be in the radius of a hundred feet from Yunho, much less see him like this. Yanghyun spares Changmin another warning glance, close enough to notice the ripple of tension radiating from his son. It’s poor consolation, but Changmin squeezes Yunho’s hand and looks straight at Jiwook, a challenging tilt to his jaw.

Jiwook’s eyes narrow, but it’s his father’s voice that cuts through the rising tension. He’s leaned forward, a wide, sanctimonious smile carved into his face. “Now, now, Jung Yanghyun-sshi. That’s not the way to treat someone offering a truce, is it?”

“A truce?” Yanghyun doesn’t even bother masking the disbelief underlining his voice, for good reason. The longer he’s in Sangcheol’s presence, the more he is convinced that the other man is only here to taunt them. It’s typical psychopathic behaviour and he’d met criminals on death row who are less revolting than Han Sangcheol. “What do you mean?”

“It’s simple, isn’t it?” He claps his hands, looking around the room with faux cheer. His eyes linger on Yunho, lips pulling back against white, even teeth. “We’re going to withdraw the police report, if Yunho apologises for hurting Jiwook.” The smile stretches even wider, showing more teeth. “And of course, they’re going to be mated once they’re of age. An unruly omega like this requires a firm hand on the leash.”

Yunho’s stomach churns almost immediately, and he can taste vomit in the back of his throat. He’s never, ever entertained the thought of mating anyone other than Changmin, and to hear that word that gives him so much _hope_ and the sense of sanctity associated with someone like Jiwook — he can’t keep the look of disgust from his face — but before he can even think of something to respond to that, there’s suddenly a lot of _motion_ around him.

It’s Mihyun who’d beaten the alphas to the punch.

She stands tall and rigid, pulling up her small statute into something akin to a monolithic appropriation of fury. There’s a look on her face that Changmin had never seen before and one he hopes would never be directed at him. Even knowing that his mother is a beta does nothing to stifle the shiver running down his spine. The world stops turning for a second, then shudders back into motion with the soft breath she draws in. All the men in the room are looking at her and Sangcheol’s minute surprise quickly shifts into one of condescension.

He opens his mouth, perhaps to deliver more vitriol, but is cut off by a sharp look. It surprises everyone, even Sangcheol himself, when he keeps his mouth shut.

“It seems like I’ve made the mistake of believing that it’s possible for our families to have a civil discussion, despite everything that had happened.” They’re half-hidden by the flare in her skirt, but Changmin notices how tightly Mihyun has her fists clenched. It’s a stark counterpoint to the almost neutral expression on her face, as she continues in that same even, steady voice, “But I will not allow you to sit there and insult _my son_, when it’s yours who needs a firm hand and a leash.”

Sangcheol splutters in outrage, jumping to his feet and baring his teeth at Mihyun. “You beta bitch—”

Which is exactly the wrong thing to do and to say, because now Yanghyun and Changmin have straightened to their full heights and are growling in warning at the Hans, even when it’s obvious the words made no dent in Mihyun’s armour. She merely shakes her head and points at the door. “Get out of our house. _Now_.”

Yunho gets to his feet too, slowly, his gaze fixed on the younger alpha in front of him. He'll have plenty of time to process everything, but one thing is for sure; he's _never_ going to mate with _anyone_ other than Changmin, nevermind Han Jiwook. Jiwook defiantly stays sitting, but with the advantage of height over him, Yunho raises his eyebrow in a silent warning. Only a short time later, though, he does get to his feet.

Yunho watches the two Hans round the table silently, barely keeping up their bravado, and he realizes with relish that if they'd been in their wolves, they'd have their tail between their legs.

It isn't until they're almost at the door, being threateningly ushered there by the Jungs, that Han Sangcheol turns to them.

“You’re going to regret this,” he spits out and his eyes are narrowed at Yunho. “I’ll make sure that you pay for this, omega.”

Changmin had heard enough. He steps up in front of Yunho and it’s a struggle to keep his hands to his sides, instead of planting them in either of those two ugly faces in front of him. Yanghyun doesn’t even stop him when he bares his canines and says, “Shut up and get lost.”

The older Han bristles at the audacity of the youngest alpha, but Changmin can see right past the false bravado. Han Sangcheol knows that this is a losing fight. He’s in another pack’s turf and he’s outnumbered — anything he does right now would be construed as instigating a war between two packs and nobody wants that to happen. He barks at his son to tell him to go to the car, before whirling around and stomping down the yard like an ill-tempered brute.

Once the car swerves into the street and races off, Changmin hears Mihyun whisper to Yunho, “You shouldn’t listen to anything he said. You know that, right?”

Yunho nods and forces himself to smile. His parents must hurt, too, to hear everything, and worried. So he wraps his arms around his mother and squeezes. And barely able to keep his voice from shaking, he manages, "I know. Thanks, Umma. You were really cool just now."

Mihyun presses a kiss to Yunho’s cheek, her eyes meeting Yanghyun’s over the curve of Yunho’s shoulder. “Now you know why your father listens to me,” she says, lightly. Patting his chest, she adds, “Go get changed.” She glances at Changmin and Jihye. “Both of you too. And then we can eat together.”

Yunho's only too happy to comply, and he rushes up the stairs into his room, rubbing a hand over his chest. That felt like a _lot_, not just the shock of what's just been said but also the fact that they'd invaded the safety of their home.

And despite Yunho knowing that this isn't right, that they're making him question himself and his family, their pack, he finds himself letting out a shuddering breath and sinking into the bed as soon as he gets to his room.

The door barely has time to close before it opens again, and Changmin strides inside.

“Are you okay?” is the first thing he demands, closing the door and taking the few steps to cross the room and hover over Yunho. Rage still simmers under his skin even after the satisfaction of seeing Han Sangcheol and his jerkass son getting kicked out, his jaw clenched tight around the words. His eyes skim over Yunho, taking in the haggard look and the downturned mouth, and he gets into bed to wrap himself around Yunho. Running his fingers through Yunho’s hair, pressing his mouth to Yunho’s forehead and cheek and the side of his neck. “Nothing will happen to you, hyung. Nobody will take you from me. I won’t allow it.”

Yunho shifts his weight and closes the space between himself and Changmin, so that their chests are pushed tightly together. He silently allows himself to be comforted by the younger boy’s fretting and closes his eyes. “I know. I trust you.”

It still leaves a bitter taste inside Changmin’s mouth — the look on Han Sangcheol’s face, the way they’re still waiting on the result of the police investigation and how this entire thing has affected Yunho. Changmin wants it to be over, just so he doesn’t have to see the dark clouds marring Yunho’s bright existence anymore. They’re expected downstairs, but it feels wrong to let him go. Changmin brushes a kiss to Yunho’s brow bone, concentrating on the soft rise and fall of Yunho’s chest until it deepens into sleep.

When Mihyun opens the door to check up on them, Changmin looks at her from over his shoulder and shakes his head.

He spends almost the entire night awake, just watching Yunho and keeping him close.

.

“You’re still taking the exams this year, hyung?” Changmin forks some sausages over to his plate, before doing the same for Yunho’s. The smell of frying eggs wafts gently from where Mihyun’s standing over the stove and he sees her glancing at them at the question.

Yunho hesitates. It’s really creeping up on him, and although he’d prepared as much as he thought he could — he hasn’t had the chance to truly wrap up, and there are just _so _many other things clouding his head. He looks up at Changmin. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.” He picks up his fork and stabs unwillingly at the sausage. “I mean… Ican always try again next year if it doesn’t work out this year.” If he gets the chance to, that is. There are just so many uncertainties at this point, and so much to still deal with; everything feels so messy, and his head can’t hold all of this stress all at once. In fact, it feels like he’s barely able to keep himself from randomly bursting into tears half the time.

Jihye looks up from her phone and makes a face. “How can you even study with all this—” only to trail off into an awkward silence, perhaps realising that it’s a sore topic still. Plastering a wide smile onto her face, she says loudly, “You’re going to kick ass, oppa!”

“Jihye, _language_.” Mihyun places the plate of eggs onto the table and ruffles Yunho’s hair. “Don’t worry too much about it. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

Yunho swallows the lump in his throat and forces himself to nod. “Yeah,” he manages. “Maybe.” He hates how much being an omega has fucked up his life, and even what he would have appreciated hearing in the past from his parents or even his siblings makes him doubt himself — _how_ are they not tired of him yet?

He hasn’t had an appetite in days, but he still forces the food into his mouth, chews methodically, and swallows. Maybe if he acts like things are normal, they’ll continue to tolerate this for longer.

Changmin frowns, doesn’t like how quiet Yunho’s voice is and the uncertainty he reads from it. There’s absolutely no way he’s going to university if Yunho isn’t there and if he has to take the exams together with the older boy the year after, then that’s what he’s going to do. Changmin’s putting another sausage into Yunho’s plate when he hears Yanghyun walking into the kitchen, while on the phone with someone. The call seems important, from the graveness in Yanghyun’s voice and the frown on his face.

Once he hangs up, he exhales slowly. And looks at Yunho. “That’s the detective in charge of your case. He said that we need to go to the station today.”

Yunho winces. He doesn’t even know what it’s about, but before he even knows it, the words that come out of his mouth are, “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologising?” Yanghyun pulls a chair out, angling it so he’s facing his oldest son when he takes a seat. “This is not your fault.”

A small chuckle of disbelief escapes Yunho’s lips as he says, “Well.” He doesn’t continue, but he looks away from his father and takes another bite of his sausage. No matter what his family says, none of them would have to go through all this headache if he wasn’t there, and no one can deny that. “Did… he say why we have to go in?”

“No, but—” Yanghyun’s eyes skitter to his wife, before he turns to Yunho again. There’s a new grimness in his expression when he says, “He’s also calling in Han Jiwook and his father.”

Changmin hears the tail-end of that sentence and his reaction is immediate. “I’m coming as well.”

“You’re going to school, young man,” says Mihyun firmly before Yanghyun can respond. She ignores Changmin’s impending protest and nods at her husband. “I’ll go with you.”

Mihyun’s reprimand does nothing to dissuade Changmin from his intention to be there with Yunho, especially with the presence of the Hans. He looks at his father, unflinching. “I’m going,” he says, like it’s an ultimatum. He’d apologise to his mother later, but this is much too important to him. He grasps Yunho’s hand underneath the table and squeezes it. “_Please_, Appa.”

Yunho squeezes back and looks up at his father and mother in turn, pleading silently. He doesn't think he could ever ask in words, but there's no denying that if Changmin could be there too, that would make him feel that much better.

Yanghyun shrugs at Mihyun, clearly deferring the decision to his mate, and the boys turn their attention to her alone. Mihyun has to bite her lip to stop herself from smiling at the two boys and their desperate, pup-like eyes looking up at her. As they say, there is no parent who can win against her children. She still makes sure that she sounds firm enough before she speaks. “This is the last day of school you’re missing until graduation, do you hear me? No more excuses. I don’t care if Yunho has to go to _court_.”

Changmin flinches at the mention of ‘court’ and his hold on Yunho tightens. It never crossed his mind that this debacle would go that far — that Yunho would be subjected to a court hearing, like some kind of a common criminal. His conviction in Yunho’s innocence and Yanghyun’s influence is so strong that he’d conveniently forgotten the worst case scenario. And if push comes to shove, that’s not a promise he’s going to make. There’s no way he wouldn’t be there for the older boy, no matter what their parents have to say. He’s spared from having to outright lie to his mother, since she now has to deal with Jihye whining to be allowed to come too. Since both her brothers are going, there really isn’t a reason for her to be missing out.

And she’s about as stubborn as any teenage girl can be.

Yanghyun shakes his head and exchanges an exasperated look with his wife. “Let’s just go and not make them wait, alright?”

That rouses a cheer from Jihye, sort of inappropriate given the situation, but nobody calls her out on it. They’re bundled up into the car after changing and Changmin makes sure he’s pressed as close to Yunho as physically possible. He doesn’t know if it’s doing much, but he wants to remind the older boy that he’s here for him. The entire family is, but Changmin, _his_ alpha, wouldn’t let him go through this alone.

Yunho thinks his heart’s going to pound out of his chest; they hadn’t been unkind the last time that they’d been to the police station, but he _hates_ that he has to be there in the first place; he doesn’t want to remember how devastating this whole thing could be for his already-uncertain future. Changmin sidles up closer, and feeling his tense muscles relax almost immediately, Yunho just prays, _Please don’t ever get tired of me._

There’s already an officer waiting when they arrive at the station. He directs the family to a meeting room and informs them that the detective would be coming in a short while, currently in the middle of something else. Yanghyun steps out to make a phone call, presumably to the elders of the clan to inform them of what’s happening and the tight lines around his eyes bely his actual feeling for this meeting. The silence inside the room is thick and heavy, and Changmin thinks none of them is looking forward to see the Hans again in such a short amount of time. He glances at Yunho, whose face has taken on a sickly pallor and is staring at the surface of the table, avoiding everybody’s eyes.

“Bet the detective’s gonna tell us they’re dropping the case,” Changmin whispers, leaning in close to Yunho. “Since it’s bullshit anyway.”

Yunho forces himself to smile as Changmin pats his knee. He glances at his mother to see if she heard and will call Changmin out on the swearing, but she turns to her other side to tell Jihye to stop picking at her nails. He’s about to reply to Changmin when the door swings open again.

But instead of Yanghyun, it turns out to be Han Sangcheol, followed by Jiwook and a harassed-looking woman that might be his mother. Her eyes skitter to take in the other occupants inside the room, but she looks away very quickly and trails after the two men to the other side of the table. She smells like a wolf, but her demeanour reminds Yunho of a beaten dog, and it does not sit well with him.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Sangcheol starts, a patronising smile cutting across his face. It’s directed at Yunho, as does the next thing he says, “I’m sure you won’t enjoy going to prison.”

“I’m not going to prison,” shoots Yunho before any of his other family members can answer. “Not when I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Jiwook kicks at the leg of the table, jarring it loudly. His face twists into something ugly. The woman at his side tries to hold his arm, but he shoves her off and glares at Yunho. “You broke my hand, you fucki—”

“_That’s enough._”

Yanghyun strides into the room, together with a younger man that looks familiar to Yunho. He’d seen the man during his first visit, telling him about the assault accusation and asking him to tell his own side of the story when it comes to the fight. The detective had been cool and detached, but he was nice enough to assure Yunho that that was just due process. They would be taking statements and conducting an investigation, before any arrest would be made. Yunho understands that the detective was being kind, in his own way, but he isn’t a wolf though and so, he might not appreciate the differences of status of their secondary genders. Yanghyun’s jaw is firmly clenched as he walks to the chair opposite Sangcheol’s and the animosity between them is thick enough to cut.

The detective rounds the table and finds his own seat briskly at the head of the table between the two families. As he sets his laptop down onto the table, his eyes catch Yunho’s, and Yunho thinks he sees the man give him the tiniest, briefest smile he’s ever seen — but maybe that was his imagination.

He flips the laptop open and while it boots up, he begins talking. “I know it isn’t often customary to have the two parties come together like this before a hearing actually begins, but, in this instance — let’s say, I think this will be the quickest end to this case.”

Sangcheol eyes the laptop haughtily. “What are you talking about? We have no intention to settle, detective. I thought we made that clear.”

“Yes, well—” the detective looks at Yunho again before typing short phrases into his computer— “You might want to re-evaluate your position after you see this.”

Sangcheol’s face pulls into a frown and he turns to look at Jiwook, whispering something that his son answers with a shrug. Yanghyun spares a second to contemplate on the exchange, before shifting his entire attention to the detective. He’d worked with Jaehee before on several cases, knows how thorough the man takes his job and while he has no idea what Jaehee means, he doubts it would benefit Han Sangcheol in any way.

“You’ve found something then?” he asks Jaehee, as the projector at the other end of the room boots up.

Jaehee nods. “We were fortunate in where this incident occurred. It so happened that there was a private CCTV at the construction site, and they were kind enough to let us have access to the recording. So fortunately, we know _exactly_ what happened.”

Yunho clenches his fists just to keep himself from slumping over in relief, and he feels Changmin’s hand grip his wrist, hard, as if he’s doing the same thing. He lets out a shaky breath, and goes over what the detective said in his head again, just to make sure that he’s heard the right thing.

“Before I show you the clip— is there anything you boys would like to say, or add?” says Jaehee, apparently addressing both of them, but his eyes are fixated on Han Jiwook.

Jiwook’s face had lost all of its colours, the indignation he’d worn before sluiced right out to be replaced by something not unlike fear. His head jerks towards his father, who looks at him with a deepening furrow between his eyebrows, and he opens his mouth. Takes a few tries before he croaks out, “W-Why should we trust this— this clip?! They could’ve paid the guy at the construction site to fake it, right?” The hand that isn’t in a sling clutches at the edge of the table and it’s easy to see that he’s shaking. “_Right?!_”

There is a short silence at the table that feels longer than it probably really is — then Jaehee speaks, the last traces of warmth gone from his voice. “Why don’t we start thinking of conspiracy theories after we’ve actually looked at the video.”

It isn’t a question, and with that, he mercilessly clicks on the play button with a light tap of his finger.

The video isn’t in high definition, but it’s clear enough for everyone to see what went on that afternoon. It also doesn’t capture any audio, so Changmin doesn’t know what was being said at the beginning but from the look on Yunho’s face and knowing Jiwook’s penchant for being a bottom-feeding pond scum, it must be something degrading. He clenches his fingers into fists as he watches Jiwook shove Yunho into the fence, nails digging half-moons into his palms when that bastard grabs Yunho’s shoulder from behind.

And then punches him. Like the fucking coward that he is.

A low growl slips through Changmin’s clenched jaw, every single instinct telling him to shift and tear Jiwook’s throat open right there and then. The alpha inside him bays for blood, an eye for an eye. The only reason he doesn’t is because Yunho’s holding onto him, grounding Changmin to him.

“He punched you first,” Changmin grinds out, each syllable spiked with bloodlust. He’s young enough that he doesn’t have as tight of a control over his wilder half, unlike Yanghyun. The video rolls on, showing how Yunho had defended himself. Like he said he did. Changmin snarls at Jiwook, loud enough for it to echo inside the room, “You should’ve just left him alone!”

Jaehee raises his hand in warning towards Changmin, but he nods his agreement. "Yes. Typically — it doesn't look great when the person you're accusing of assault was acting in retaliation to your action." He turns to the Hans and raises both his eyebrows in a clear ‘_so what do you have to say now_’ gesture. Sangcheol’s face is turning faintly purple, as if he’s about to explode into several smaller raging bastards. Jiwook clearly knows that his number is up and there’s nothing he can say or do to explain away his lies; he’s leaned back against his chair, resolutely looking down. Jaehee clears his throat, putting a hand on his hip as he addresses the room. "Under the Criminal Act, what Jung Yunho-sshi did to Han Jiwook-sshi would be considered self-defence and based on the evidence I’ve just shown you, it also seems like you have knowingly filed a false report against him." He gathers the loose papers on the table and taps the ends of them on the desk to line them up. "_That_ is considered unlawful, Han Jiwook-sshi, and guess what? You’re going to get into big trouble for that."

Sangcheol’s eyes widen and his lips part around an ugly sound. “T-That’s preposterous! You saw what that omega did to my son—!”

“In _self-defence_.” Yanghyun’s voice is as sharp as a knife, cutting through Sangcheol’s bullshit. It’s a struggle to keep a calm exterior, but he manages. Barely. Seeing Yunho being subjected to such violence and ill treatment, and then dogged by the humiliation of a false accusation is almost too much to bear, and Yanghyun wants nothing more than to grind Han Sangcheol and his son to the ground. This is one of those rare times where he wishes that they still follow the old laws — there’s nothing he’d like to do more than to physically rip into the fledgling alpha who had come so close to ruining Yunho’s life. “We’re done here.”

Unfortunately, he would have to trust the justice system to take its course now.

It’s not as satisfying, but it would have to do.

Yanghyun stands and reaches out towards the detective for a handshake. “We’ll be filing a restraining against both of them. Thank you, Jaehee.”

A lot is happening around Yunho all at once, and he finds himself looking around, lost, as his family gets up from the table. It feels like it’s just all too much to take in, and it’s so overwhelming that he thinks he’s forgotten how to move. He’s the last to stand, led by Changmin’s hand on his arm.

“Is — Was that —” _Was that it?_

It’s hard to believe that all of the heartache and pain over the last few days ends just like that; there has to be something more. Yunho almost trips over the leg of his chair as he walks around it towards the door — and as he rights himself, he takes one last look at the Hans, who are still seated.

Jiwook’s gripping the edge of the table still, hard, and tears of fury seem to have filled his eyes, and his father looks equally humiliated and angry; Yunho looks away quickly and follows his family out the door before anything more can happen.

As soon as they step outside, with at least some sunlight shining through to dissipate the sickening, suffocating atmosphere of the other room, Yunho finds himself wrapped in Changmin’s tight embrace. He’s feeling so weak, so much so that he feels like the younger boy is holding him up.

Changmin buries his face into Yunho’s shoulder, inhaling deeply and allowing Yunho’s scent to calm the fury that still ripples inside his veins. While he’s beyond relieved to know that Yunho’s cleared from the accusation, watching that video had been an outright torture. That was _Yunho_ being attacked, nevermind that he managed to turn the table around on that asshole. If Changmin had been there with him, that entire thing wouldn’t have happened. Guilt and anger coil tightly inside his chest, expanding with each inhale and he curls his arms around Yunho tighter. To have to sit across the table from Han Jiwook and not being able to do _anything_— 

He lets go with a shaky exhale and whirls towards their father, eyes narrowed into pinpricks of storm. “That’s it? They’re just going to let him go after he lied about Yunho-hyung?”

Yanghyun’s mouth flattens into a grim line as he considers Changmin’s outburst. He recognises the reason behind his son’s anger and feels an echo of agreement inside him, but he knows better than to let it show on his face. “It’s up to the state if they want to pursue a false accusation charge, Changmin. However—” He places a hand on Yunho’s shoulder, staring at his oldest son, “—_their_ pack knows what they’ve done to you. It’s a shameful thing, for an alpha to try and take advantage of an omega. It should _never_ be done. I’ll make sure they won’t be able to live in this town any longer.”

Yunho grunts in response — he doesn't think he would be able to say anything coherent right now, with everything happening so fast. He just rests his chin over Changmin's shoulder and looks up at his father. A few deep breaths later, Yunho manages to say, "Is… is this really over now…?"

“Yes.” Yanghyun smiles, wanting nothing more than to see the weight lifted from Yunho’s shoulders. He’s too young to bear such burden. “Yes, it is.”

Jihye’s eyes flicker from her brothers to her father. She frowns, before saying, “What about those things he’d been telling everyone at school? What if they still believe him?”

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart," says Mihyun, stroking the top of Jihye's head. "That's not going to happen. And if it does —"

"...It would be fine," says Yunho, cutting her off. "I don't care."

“Nobody would believe his lies after today,” Yanghyun points out. He’s reminded of his conversation with the principal and it sits heavily in his guts, despite what he’d just said. While he still thinks that keeping Yunho at home is the best course of action, he doesn’t want to deprive his son of making his own choice. “Do you… want to go back to school, Yunho?”

Yunho hesitates as Changmin releases his embrace.He looks at the younger boy for guidance, but it doesn't come. "What do you think?" he asks uncertainly to no one in particular.

Jihye is quick to chirp in. “You should come back! I mean, school’s not _that_ fun, but it’s your last year, oppa. Don’t you miss seeing your friends? They missed you a lot, you know. They keep asking me about you.”

Changmin glances at Yunho, that surge of protectiveness rearing its head when he thinks about the ugly things they’d overheard before. He doesn’t want Yunho to go through that, again. Not when the wounds are still so very fresh. “You don’t have to,” he mutters, ignoring Jihye’s huffs. “We’re just doing a lot of revision and the teachers are breathing down our necks.”

It's another thing that's crowding his mind, and Yunho closes his eyes, squeezes them shut. "I don't know. Can I… think about it and decide later?"

Jihye opens her mouth to argue but doesn’t get the chance when Mihyun ushers them towards the parking lot. Changmin heaves a sigh and scratches the back of his head, trying not to think about seeing Yunho go back to school, where he knows that Jiwook’s dumbass henchmen would make Yunho’s life more difficult if given the chance. He reaches for Yunho’s hand, threading their fingers together as they lag behind the rest of their family. “I’m glad this is over.” He bumps his shoulder against Yunho’s, lowering his voice when he says, “Do you think I should buy a mask and break that asshole’s other hand? Minho offered to be my alibi if anyone asks.”

Yunho finds a small breath of laughter escapes between his lips. He squeezes Changmin's hand. "I love you. But please, no. I have had enough of police stations for a while. I couldn't take it anymore if something happened to you."

Changmin wrinkles his nose. “I’m kinda offended that you think I’m going to get caught.”

Yunho lets go of his hand, and instead, wraps his arm around Changmin's waist. "We don't avoid poop because it's scary. We avoid it because it's gross. Han Jiwook is poop."

“Okay, fine. I’m avoiding the poop.” Changmin manages to keep his face straight for approximately five seconds, before he cracks up. Their parents and Jihye stop to look at them in question, and Changmin slings an arm around Yunho’s shoulder. He loudly declares, right in the middle of the parking lot, “We’re avoiding poop!”

Yanghyun and Mihyun exchange a confused look, while Jihye just makes a face at her brothers. She waits for them to catch up to her and says, mostly to Yunho, “Are you sure you don’t want to find another alpha? Like, a better one?”

Suddenly, Yunho's standing there alone as Changmin starts chasing Jihye across the parking lot. Eventually, Jihye returns to them to bury herself in her mother's arms for protection, while Changmin returns to Yunho's side.

Yunho laughs again, amused, and squeezes Changmin's hand as he looks in the other boy's eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure."

.

**tbc**

.


	18. Chapter 18

.

It feels like the aftermath of a storm, one that they’ve weathered fairly well considering everything that Yunho had to go through. Changmin isn’t privy to what happened between the packs soon after (there was a meeting called, but it was only between the elders, with Yanghyun in attendance as the head of the family) and what they’d decided to do to Han Jiwook and his family, but whatever it is, he knows that their parents would take care of it. As they’ve always done. It still rankles at Changmin that he doesn’t get to give Jiwook a taste of his own medicine, when the asshole clearly deserves more than just a broken arm. 

As Yunho’s alpha, it should’ve been his _right_.

That grievous injustice aside, one fortunate outcome of this entire debacle is that there’s now a possibility of Yunho returning to school again. And that is something Changmin looks forward to. 

He whines into Yunho’s ear, half-asleep and with his eyes closed. The alarm is still beeping aggressively somewhere to the side, but Changmin is too comfortable where he is to shift and find it. “_Why is it already morning?_”

Changmin’s soft fur tickles his eyelashes, and Yunho instinctively wraps his arm around the younger wolf and squeezes him tighter. The alarm only starts to bother him seconds later, and Yunho blindly feels around with his hand until he finds the alarm and turns it off.

He buries his face into Changmin’s comforting figure again and mumbles, “It’s not. We’ve only been sleeping for five minutes.”

Granted, Yunho went to bed really late, catching up on as much studying as he could, but there is no way in this world that it’s morning already. 

There’s the muted sound of their mother moving around in the kitchen, probably preparing breakfast, and the possibility of Jihye barging in on them again hikes higher the longer they stay in bed, but that does nothing to stop Changmin from burrowing deeper into the side of Yunho’s neck. “_You smell nice_,” he murmurs, lazily shifting so that he can sneak his hand underneath the older boy’s shirt. “Have you decided? If you wanna come with or not?”

Yunho's eyes open slowly at the question. Last night, he had decided to stay home while he was on a 10-minute break from his studying. He wanted to just be safe at home, like his father and Changmin said. It's not safe for him anymore out there, and the last thing he wants is for something like this to happen again — to risk his own safety as well as his family's, and to risk his family and his pack finally realizing they've had enough of him and all the trouble he seems to bring them each day. Naturally, as a wolf, being banished or abandoned by his pack is one of Yunho's worst fears, and he doesn't want to risk anything that he doesn't have to.

"I… think I'm going to stay home," says Yunho. He thumbs at a small square of skin at Changmin's waist, but he can't even look Changmin in the eye.

Changmin raises his head, just enough to catch a glimpse of the corner of Yunho’s eye. Disappointment sits heavily in his stomach — he’d miss the older boy in school, he’d miss him every single second they’re apart. It’s selfish and Changmin’s fingers smooth against Yunho’s warm skin. “Are you sure?” He kisses Yunho’s collarbone, says, “You know you don’t have to be afraid anymore, right?”

Yunho nods. Afraid of Jiwook, maybe. Afraid of losing everyone he cares about — that's a different story. "You should get up and wash up so you're not late for school."

That doesn’t actually answer his question. Changmin’s eyebrows crease and he props himself up properly, studying Yunho’s face. It’s dark, except for that sliver of pale pinkness creeping in from underneath the curtain over the window and he can’t read anything behind the slight flutter of Yunho’s eyelashes. Changmin heaves a sigh, runs a hand through his hair and further messes it up. “Okay,” he exhales, almost a grumble. He climbs out of the bed and sits on the edge, his back pressed solidly against Yunho’s thigh. The urge to not leave Yunho scratches at him, almost a physical pain. He twists, reaching back for Yunho’s hand. “You sure you’re okay with this?”

"Yeah, of course," replies Yunho, and he hopes that he's feigning nonchalance well enough. He nudges Changmin's back. "You should really get going."

Changmin stays there for a few more seconds, a protest at the tip of his tongue, but he relents because he knows Yunho wouldn’t budge. He straightens and stretches, working out the kinks until his muscles don’t feel like they’ve knotted over. Squeezing the two of them into a single-sized bed isn’t the easiest, but Changmin doesn’t mind as much when he gets to keep close to Yunho. He bends towards the older boy, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Then another, just because. When he pulls back, it’s with a pout on his face. “It’s not fair that you get to sleep in.”

Changmin's probably joking, and Yunho knows that, but he's not taking any chances. He bolts upright in bed. "Sorry. I'm not. I'm getting up too."

That surprises him and his eyebrows hike up. “You’re not?” Changmin shakes his head, turning away towards the door. “Not sure you’re getting the whole missing school part right, hyung.”

"I should study anyway, make myself useful," says Yunho with a nod. "I'll see you downstairs for breakfast."

Changmin would very much like to point out that Yunho’s enthusiasm for studying is getting to be a bit concerning, but it’s too early to get into an argument over something as trivial. He pads into his own room, going through the motion of getting ready in record time. He’s still slightly groggy when he comes down for breakfast, tossing his bag on top of Jihye’s on the couch before lumbering over to where the others are already seated. Mihyun is setting down a plate of fried eggs on the table and looks at Changmin with a smile.

“You should eat quickly. Your father has to go in early today.” Her eyes trail to the stairs, expecting to see her other son. “Where’s Yunho?”

“Hyung told me he’s not going to school today,” Changmin says, pulling out a chair. “But he’s coming down soon, I think.” 

As if on cue, Yunho walks down the stairs, still in his t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, holding his elbows in his hands. "Good morning," he says, eyeing his family members carefully. None of them seems angry at him, which is a good thing. He walks carefully to the table and slides into the seat next to Changmin with the least amount of motion he can muster.

Jihye looks up from her phone, eyes wide. “You’re not coming with us?”

Yunho shakes his head. “I decided to stay home until exams are over. You know. Less of a headache, for all of us.”

“You should show everyone that nobody could mess with you and get away with it.” Jihye points her fork at him to punctuate and Mihyun clicks her tongue, batting the hand down from the side. “Besides, some of them owe you an apology.”

"No one can mess with me when I'm at home, either," he says, and he shoots Jihye a look; he doesn't want too much attention right now, and she's not helping.

Changmin swallows his mouthful of sausages and nods slowly, eyes narrowing at the memory of things said about Yunho ever since he presented. If he gets his way, accepting their apology would’ve included a few knuckle sandwiches thrown into the mix. “I bet they won’t even show their faces to you.” He nudges Yunho’s knee with his own, noticing quickly that there’s nothing in Yunho’s plate. “You should eat.”

"Yeah," says Yunho, and he starts to put some food on his plate. Trying to change the subject, he turns to the chatterbox of their sister. "How are Kyunghee and the rest doing? You haven't talked about them in a while."

Jihye tilts her head, nose scrunching. “She’s bossing everyone around, like always. I heard she’s routing out Han Jiwook’s minions and reading them the riot act so that they’ll leave you alone when you come back to school.” Her mouth curls into a sly, little grin when she adds, “Kyunghee-unni would be a good alpha for you, oppa.”

Changmin chokes on the water he’s drinking. 

“She _is_ very much like her father,” Yanghyun says, paying little attention to the sputtering from his youngest son. He turns to Yunho and raises his eyebrows, teasingly. “If you’re not interested in anyone else, you should try talking to her. I think Dongmin would like that as well.”

Yunho eyes Changmin, who looks like he’s clenching his teeth so tightly he’s going to break them. “Um, Appa. Exams.” Under the table, he slides his hand over Changmin’s thigh and squeezes it. “Also — “ he doesn’t know if this is the best way, given that he thinks he should just listen to whatever his family tells him to do, but — “she’s not really… I can’t see myself with her. Like, ever. She will make a great head alpha for the pack, though.” And then he finally shoots a glare at Jihye.

Mihyun sighs in exasperation as Jihye sticks her tongue out at Yunho, although it brings relief to her heart to see her children bickering again. It feels almost like any other day and normalcy is very much welcomed after the week they’ve had. “You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry,” she reminds them, especially her husband. She looks to the other end of the table to see Changmin glaring bloody murder at his sister and then sighs again. Jihye really should know better than to tease her brothers like this. “And Yunho, dear. Nobody’s expecting you to settle down anytime soon. Don’t worry too much about it.”

Yunho tries to smile back, but he's not sure if it looks that way. He gives Changmin's thigh another squeeze. "I promise, looking for a future mate is the furthest thing from my mind right now."

Changmin covers Yunho's hand with his own, willing himself not to say something dumb. Like '_hyung already has a mate, ME_' because that's not the kind of thing to say in the middle of breakfast. Especially since their father remains the only one happily clueless about the entire thing and Changmin wouldn't want him to find out before they're both ready. 

Jihye, on the other hand, is asking for a roughing up.

"Nobody's good enough for hyung," he grumbles anyway, pettiness forcing the words through his teeth. _Except me_. Changmin shoves the last of the egg into his mouth and gets to his feet. "I'm gonna walk today."

Before Yunho even gets a chance to react, Changmin grabs his bag from the couch and walks out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him. Yunho winces, but Jihye cackles and rolls her eyes playfully. "What a drama queen."

"Time for you both to go, too," reminds Mihyun with a sigh, and they all get up from the table. Yunho stands too, but Mihyun points to his plate. "Finish your food, Yunho. There's no rush for you."

Yunho sits back down at that obediently, and pokes around at the egg on his plate. It's so strange how he can't seem to work up much of an appetite nowadays, especially in the morning. While the rest of his family scrambles at the door, Yunho reaches for his phone. He pulls up his messages with Changmin and after some hesitation, writes, _I love you. A lot_. His finger hovers over the 'send' button for a second, but then he decides to add, _I really hope you'll never change your mind about wanting to be my mate_. And then he finally sends the message.

He's just put his phone back down on the table when his mother returns to the kitchen after having sent Yanghyun and Jihye off. "You haven't touched your food."

Yunho picks up his fork again. "Sorry. Just got distracted."

Mihyun studies her older son, noting his slumped shoulders and the way he’s picking at his food again, and thinks of how much has changed in the span of a few short months. She pulls out a chair and sits next to him, before exhaling softly. “We haven’t had the chance to properly talk since… the police station.” Mihyun sees Yunho stiffen, the tightening of his jaw. “How are you doing? _Really_?”

Yunho finds he can't look his mother in the eye. He focuses on his eggs, stabbing at them with his fork. "I'm fine, obviously. Just… sorry that I put you and everyone else through all that. It's not what you signed up for."

It’s not something Mihyun had expected to hear from Yunho, to realise that he’d thought of himself as a burden. She understands that her son must be struggling with the issues that come with being an omega and there are a lot of things he keeps from them, often putting up a brave front before the rest of the family. But apologising for something that is none of his fault? Mihyun shakes her head. “Yunho.” Her voice is stern, demanding him to look at her. She needs him to understand this before it gets worse. “We don’t _sign up_ for anything. We’re your _family_. Wouldn’t you do the same if Jihye is in trouble? Or Changmin?” 

"Yeah, of course, but — but they're not. They're —" the next word comes out much quieter — "_normal_."

Mihyun frowns. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Being an omega is not— _abnormal_. It’s just a part of you. Just like the colour of your hair or the shape of your ears.” She strokes his head, running her thumb over the shell of his ear as she says that. “What’s wrong, however, is the way some people still cling onto outdated dogmas. And I don’t want you to believe any of that nonsense.”

Yunho sighs and nods. "I know." He knows all that, he really does. But that doesn't change the fact that none of this would happen if he hadn't been on omega. He shoves the rest of his food into his mouth as quickly as he can, so that he can get away from this uncomfortable conversation. "Anyway. I guess the best I can do is stay home, where I know I'll be safe."

As a mother, there’s nothing more she would want other than for her children to not have to endure the kind of hardship that could break their spirit. On the other hand, she wants to be believe that Yunho would rise above the discrimination that comes with his biology. Yanghyun had been right in his intent to be protective, that the world can be undeservingly cruel, but it’s not something they can shield their son from if they want him to find his place out there. Mihyun rises from the chair and pats Yunho’s shoulder, says, “You can’t hide inside here forever, dear.” 

"I'm not _hiding_," says Yunho defensively, but he doesn't defend himself much further than that. He puts his fork down on his empty plate and stands from the table. "I'll do the dishes today, since I'm home anyway."

It doesn't take long for him to finish the dishes and make his way upstairs. He closes his door and lets out a sigh. He's already exhausted, and the day's just started. He plops down on his chair at his desk. He bites his lip and opens his books, when the thoughts enter his head — _what is all this for?_ He's going to be a social misfit all his life anyway, and what's the point, when he's clearly just going to hide at home all day for the rest of his life, that is, if Changmin lets him be his mate?

He rolls his lips between his teeth and chews on the inside of his cheeks. He shakes the thought from his head and checks his phone screen one last time before he turns it off to start studying — but he realizes that there are two texts there from Changmin that he'd missed while he was doing the dishes, replies to his text that he'd sent earlier.

_Hyung, if you leave me for Kyunghee, I will die from a broken heart and it’s going to be your fault. My death will be on your hands and I don’t think you should live with that kind of guilt your entire life so you better not leave me for Kyunghee._

And then,

_p/s: she sucks at cooking and you’re going to need someone who can feed you and that someone is ME._

Yunho can't help but laugh at how ridiculously dramatic that is, and just how amazing Changmin is. He shakes his head, he doesn't even know how he can possibly reply to that, so he powers off his phone and puts it down. He can always trust Changmin to make him feel better.

He can't seem to focus though, no matter how hard he tries. It's true, what his mother said; he _is_ hiding, and if it were Changmin or Jihye going through this, abandoning them would _never_ be an option. He's afraid of all of that, certainly, but —

His eyes automatically go to the jewelry box that sits on his desk. He reaches for it and opens it. The silver bracelet sits inside, and he takes it out to read the engraving — _CMxYH_ — and biting his lip, he puts it on for the first time since the day that Changmin gave it to him. He watches the way it glints in the sunlight and how it sits so delicately on his wrist for a while. Then as if something came over him, he stands forcefully from his chair and gets dressed in his uniform, shoves his books into his bag, and runs downstairs, where his mother looks up from the couch, where she's reading.

"Umma, I'm going to school."

.

Changmin tips his chair back and heaves out a sigh, eyes fixated on the ceiling as he wonders about what Yunho is doing at home right at that moment. He’d sent the texts on his way to school, still pissed off that Jihye would even bring another alpha up as a potential mate for Yunho, and the thought of losing out to someone else makes his hackles rise. There’s no way in hell that’s going to happen. Changmin runs his fingers through his hair and sighs again, letting the front legs of the chair land on the floor with a clatter that invites curious looks from the neighbouring tables. He slips his phone out of his pocket to see if he has any new messages in his inbox, only to find none.

Yunho’s probably studying. Or ignoring him. 

Changmin groans and thunks his forehead against the table. 

It sucks to be stuck at school when his entire being screams at him to stay by Yunho’s side and make sure that the older boy is okay, but it’s not like he can defy his parents’ wish. And they wouldn’t be happy if he even considers ditching school for something as frivolous as wanting to keep Yunho company, even if he already has a scholarship and doesn’t need to sit for the exams. 

“You look like someone ran over your pet rabbit.”

Changmin raises his head and immediately regrets it. _Kyunghee_. The older wolf grins down at him and he has no idea why she’s here. This morning is a parade of one bad thing after another. “Leave me alone.”

“It’s always delightful to see how grumpy you are when Yunho isn’t around.” As if to expound upon his misery, she invites herself to the chair in front of Changmin. “Speaking of, he’s not coming back to school?”

Changmin would very much like to inform Kyunghee that it’s none of her business, that she should stop asking about Yunho before someone else gets the wrong idea, but he’s not so far gone as to forget that she’s (technically) their friend. And that she’d stood up for them before. “No. He’s only coming in for the exams, that’s it.”

She wrinkles her nose. “That’s too bad. Since everyone already knows Jiwook lied through his teeth about the fight. It would be best for him if he can—”

“_You don’t know what’s best for him_,” Changmin growls, voice low and sharp. Kyunghee blinks, taken aback by the hostility in his words, but he doesn’t give a shit. He’s had enough of her and she should know which line to not cross. “You’re not his alpha. You don’t get to decide what he should and shouldn’t do.”

“Changmin, we all know you’re—”

Whatever it is that Kyunghee wants to say is cut off by the arrival of the teacher and she takes her leave quickly, although she does pause by the door to glance at Changmin. There’s nothing apologetic in her expression, just a trace of amusement, and she’s gone before he can figure out what that meant. He doesn’t get to wonder for long as the teacher starts on a spiel about chapters that they would need to revise and they’re given an ungodly amount of exercises to complete by the end of the period. Changmin’s rooting inside his bag for his pencil case and book when he hears the door open. 

And sees Yunho walking in, slightly out of breath and already apologising to the teacher for being late.

Changmin’s knee-jerk reaction is a loud ‘Hyung!’ and the bang of his leg against the underside of his table. 

Making everyone look at him.

Changmin wants to fucking _die._

Yunho just smiles his wide, bright, sunshine smile and sits at his desk after waving at Changmin. He doesn't seem to mind at all that everyone's staring at him and Changmin in turn, and acts as if he hasn't been away for a single day. His deskmate taps him on the arm — it's an absolute _injustice and travesty_ that Changmin's not his deskmate — and Yunho smiles and pats him on the shoulder in greeting too, with a soft, "Hey, long time no see."

Changmin’s ears are burning as he keeps his eyes on his exercise book and valiantly tries to ignore the not-quiet-at-all snickering from his own deskmate, because embarrassment would be an understatement of massive proportion to describe what he’s feeling right now. If the ground opens up and swallows him whole, he’d be grateful. He waits until the teacher starts talking again to sneak a look at Yunho and the first thing he notices is the bracelet around Yunho’s wrist.

_His_ bracelet. 

The silver catches light and gleams, stands out against Yunho’s pale skin in a way that reminds Changmin of molten steel. Warmth unfurls inside his chest when he realises that this is the first time Yunho has worn the bracelet to school, that everyone would see it on him. And if they look closer, they’d be able to see the initials carved into the silver. Their promise to one another. Changmin doesn't know why Yunho is here when he said he wouldn't, but his presence makes Changmin even more jittery. It’s a torture, having to wait until their classes end to talk to Yunho and then watching their other classmates swarm around the older boy, pestering him with questions. 

Changmin stands at the back of the small crowd, arms crossed and wearing a narrow-eyed look of impatience. 

Yunho answers the questions, they're all harmless, and he finds himself relaxing a bit more as he realizes that everyone seems just genuinely curious about what happened between him and Jiwook. He keeps looking around though, looking for Changmin, who doesn't seem to have joined this crowd, until he finally spots the younger boy at the back. Only then does he stand and say to his classmates, "I'll be back! I'm just super hungry."

A grin cuts across Changmin's feature when he sees Yunho heading towards him, parting the crowd with ease, and it's only the knowledge that they're surrounded by their classmates that stops Changmin from pulling Yunho into his arms. Instead, he says, "I thought you said you're staying home?"

"I was going to," says Yunho, and he slings an arm around Changmin's shoulders and whispers into his ear, "But I couldn't stay away from you."

Changmin's grin widens, feels like it's stretched from one ear to another, and he loops his own arm around Yunho's waist. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

There really is nowhere private enough for them to do the things Changmin wants done to Yunho, except for the men's room and they already have an unpleasant memory there. And their break isn't as long as Changmin would've wanted. Which is why they end up in the cafeteria, where Changmin can at least hold Yunho's hand under the table. It feels juvenile and not even close to satisfactory, but it's better than nothing. 

"Are you only coming in for today?" Changmin pops the straw into the milk box and nudges it towards Yunho. "What did Umma say?"

"She didn't say anything much," says Yunho with a shrug. "She seemed happy about it, actually. And —" Yunho hesitates. "If you don't think it'll be too much of a bother for you, I'd like to come every day."

“Why would it be a bother?” Changmin’s brows furrow, his mouth flattening at being asked something so ridiculous. “I can’t stand us being apart, you know that.”

Yunho has to consciously stop the urge of kissing Changmin right there. "I mean… Appa thought you needed to protect me all the time."

“Appa’s right; I _should_ protect you,” Changmin points out, in all seriousness. After everything that happened with Jiwook, he’s not going to let Yunho out of his sight. “You’re mine, y’know?”

Yunho sighs. To be honest, he doesn't think the two alphas of the family will ever truly get the helplessness he feels, because whether they tag alongside him like bodyguards or not, he's going to be a burden to them. He closes his mouth around the straw and drinks in place of actually answering. 

There’s that look on Yunho’s face, like he’s keeping something back and Changmin doesn’t like it. “Is something wrong?” 

Yunho sighs. "It just sucks how I don't seem to be able to do anything on my own anymore. And when I do, I create a disaster. Even if it's something as simple as just walking home by myself."

“It’s not your fault some people are fucking crazy.” Just the thought of the kind of injustice Yunho has to deal with sets a scowl upon Changmin’s face. He tightens his grip on Yunho’s hand, a reminder that they’re going to go through this together. “Doesn’t matter. They know not to mess with you anymore.”

"Yeah," concedes Yunho with a chuckle. "Lucky that Appa's a wolf rights lawyer and that I have a pack that has my back."

Changmin grins, the corner of his mouth hitching up to reveal his canines. “That’s right. You don’t have to worry about anything.” He bumps Yunho’s shoulder with his own. “You know what’s even better?” Voice lowered, he leans in so close that his nose brushes Yunho’s cheek, “Once we get into uni, we can do whatever we want. Don’t even need to lock the door anymore.”

Yunho finishes face burning, and suddenly feeling shy, he looks away and laughs. His heart pounds faster, and he barely manages to say, "If I can get in, that is."

“You will,” Changmin says, a touch incredulous. Since he can’t even fathom Yunho doubting his ability, after all the hard work he’d put in. In Changmin’s mind, they’ll get there together. It’s a shame that they’re in school, where he can’t nudge Yunho’s face towards him for a kiss. “And then I’ll get you to myself.” Changmin grins. “_Finally_.”

There's nothing Yunho wouldn't do for that to happen, but he's had to deal with so much shit, frankly, just before exams that he's not sure if it's going to happen. He thumbs at the silver chain around his wrist. "I hope so."

The gesture is enough to drag Changmin’s eyes to the bracelet. He reaches out to hook a pointer finger around it, tugging at it lightly. “I thought I’d never see you wear this in public,” he pouts. 

"I wouldn't have worn it if I didn't need the luck," says Yunho shyly. "I needed it today, so."

Changmin heaves out a sigh, pressing as close to Yunho as he can without it bordering on public indecency. “I really, _really_ want to kiss you right now.”

Honestly, Yunho feels the same. "Maybe we should just do it," he laments, but seeing the massive, wolfish grin appear on Changmin's face, he takes it back, quickly. "_I'm joking._"

There’s another sigh, long-suffering this time, and Changmin resumes pouting. He could’ve gone for it, really, but he doesn’t think it would bode well for either of their reputations at school. Even if they only have a couple months left. There are still a few stragglers hanging around and Changmin stares at them balefully. He turns to Yunho, pout magnified to the power of several hundreds. “Promise that you won’t go straight to the books once we get home?” His fingertips brush the back of Yunho’s hand. “I need some tender, lovin’ care from my mate.”

"Oh, yeah," Yunho teases. "I saw your wolf the other day. Your fur needs some brushing, or you're gonna start matting. I can help you with that."

“Matti— I am _not!_” Changmin clamps his mouth shut after the outburst, narrowing his eyes at the grin on Yunho’s face. His pride wars with the prospect of spending an afternoon in Yunho’s lap, and unsurprisingly, the latter wins out in an absolute landslide. He lowers his head onto Yunho’s shoulder and whines. “I would very much like to be brushed, hyung. Make me pretty again.”

"You're always pretty," says Yunho with a grin. He'd like to tap the younger boy's nose with his finger, but he restrains himself. "Even after you've rolled around in mud with Minho. But I'll brush you today anyway, if you'll read my history summaries to me while I brush you."

Changmin doesn’t need to be reminded of his cub days, thank you very much. But Yunho’s spending time with him and that’s more than he’d first bargained. He tilts his face up, chin digging into Yunho’s shoulder as he beams. “Deal.” And after a quick sweep to make sure nobody’s looking, Changmin darts forward to close what little distance between them. Taking Yunho by surprise, so that he can plant a chaste kiss onto the older boy’s slightly-parted lips. He sees Yunho’s eyes widen and the flush crawling onto his cheeks in record time, and Changmin’s enjoying the view very very much. He says, smugly, “A kiss to seal the deal, so you won’t break it.”

He narrowly dodges the swat of Yunho’s hand and tips his head back, letting out a bark of laughter. 

"You're crazy," declares Yunho, giving him another gentle shove, but the grin still shines through. And at that exact moment, the warning bell rings, and Yunho groans. "Back to class."

It’s such a short respite that Changmin can only grunt in annoyance, hates that he has such little time to indulge in Yunho’s closeness, but this is already a lot better than how disgruntled he’d been earlier this morning. He straightens to his feet following Yunho’s lead, catching sight of the bracelet again. “You’ll wear that, won’t you? For the exams?”

The question seems to surprise Yunho and his mouth curls into a smile, eye crinkling as he tugs at Changmin’s wrist. “Of course,” he says, and it’s incredulous how such a simple answer can fill the entirety of Changmin’s chest with warmth. “Wouldn’t want to leave you out.”

Changmin really, really wants to kiss him right _now_. 

.

Yunho wakes early, before the alarm, while only a dark blue hue finds its way through the window. It's a bit chilly even under the covers, so he instinctively reaches beside him to press closer to his mate, but he finds that the mass of fur that he's used to having beside him all the time isn't there. He blinks, confused — maybe Changmin's in the bathroom — and he sits up. And as soon as he does, his heart jumps into his throat and his anxiety kicks in, because immediately, before even needing to reorient himself, he knows exactly what day it is today.

He has to take a few breaths and gets to his feet, pulls on a sweater. His hands shake a little, and he doesn't know if it's because of how cold it is, or if it's because of how nervous he is. He makes a trip to the bathroom before anything else, and when he steps out, Changmin's jumping on him, putting his paws onto Yunho's shoulders and licking his nose. "Where were you?" whines Yunho — he didn't like waking up alone one bit, especially on a big day like today — but still puts his arms around the grey wolf all the same.

Changmin doesn’t answer the question, instead proceeding to lick Yunho’s cheek and mouth before shifting so he can properly kiss the older boy. He slips his hands underneath Yunho’s sweater, palming the warm skin underneath as he walks Yunho back into the bathroom, closing the door one-handed without breaking the kiss. It’s a languid slide of lips against lips and Changmin revels in the softness of Yunho’s mouth, the sweetness of his scent early in the morning. He raises a hand to curve along Yunho’s jaw, thumb stroking the skin behind his ear as he breathes Yunho in. 

It’s only when they’re both slightly out of breath that he leans back, grinning at the dazed look on Yunho’s face. “Good morning to you too, hyung.”

At least it's a distraction from the anxiety — albeit only for a very short time — but he still feels more settled. He doesn't know how all the other test takers are doing it without their own Changmin, which there's only one of. Obviously, Yunho is very lucky. "I can't believe today actually came."

“_Finally_,” he emphasises, with extra feelings. Changmin nudges his forehead against Yunho’s, anchoring him in place with his hands. “You’re gonna kick ass.” Another peck to Yunho’s lips and he’s stepping back, grin widening. It’s one of those very rare days that he’d woken up earlier than Yunho and that is on purpose, in preparation for sending him off to the exams. Changmin doesn’t have to sit for them, as his scholarship doesn’t require him to, and this is the least he can do for Yunho. “You should get ready, I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Yunho nods and sighs as he opens the bathroom door. Changmin's right; it's been so long since they'd been able to have fun with no worries. Before he's even able to lament that, Changmin shifts again and bounds downstairs again, leaving Yunho alone there again. Yunho's up early enough not to have to rush, and he takes his time getting dressed, taking one last glance through his summary notes at the same time. He already packed his bag the night before but he still checks through it one last time. He slings his bag over his shoulder and with the notes still in his hand, climbs down the stairs.

It's his father who's waiting at the bottom of the stairs with his arms open and a wide grin. "It's your big day, Yunho!" Yanghyun says. He claps Yunho on the back. "I know you'll be great, son. Don't worry."

It does nothing to calm his nerves.

Mihyun comes up to him from somewhere behind his father, pulling him into a hug. She sees anxiety skittering under his skin, making his smile stretch too tautly as he returns her embrace, and she wants to tell him that he has nothing to worry about. He would do well. After all the hard work he’d put in, it wouldn’t be anything less. “Just remember that we’re all so proud of you, alright?”

Yunho holds his breath and returns the hug. It feels a bit like he's going off to war. "I'm sorry in advance if I have to study for one more year. But promise me you'll make sure Changmin goes to university next year regardless."

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Changmin calls out loudly, from where he’s fussing over the tupperwares on the kitchen table, even before their parents could say anything. There are pork cutlets resting on a tray, crisp and golden and waiting to be sliced into more manageable pieces. He’d also made a salad to go with the cutlets and is tossing the greens in its dressing, coating everything well. There’s rice in the cooker being kept warm and he only needs to assemble some other side dishes he’d made late last night while Yunho did his revision. “We’re going into the same university and that’s that.”

Yunho looks at his mother and shakes his head. "I'm going to do my best, obviously, but — you know, I wouldn't mind having an extra year to _really_ do my best, without any distractions." Prepare for the worst, as they say.

“We know you’re going to do your best and that’s enough,” Yanghyun says, smiling at his oldest. The year hasn’t been as kind as he’d wished for Yunho, with too many things happening in a row, but Yanghyun’s confidence in him hasn’t faltered one bit. While he would’ve liked to see both of them in Yonsei at the same time, he doesn’t want to put unnecessary pressure on Yunho’s shoulders. On the other hand, attempting to reason with Changmin would be like trying to talk some sense into a brick wall. He’d inherited his father’s stubbornness and Yanghyun doesn’t even pretend to want to deal with that. “Go sit down for breakfast and I’ll drive you to school once you’re done.”

Yunho really shouldn't have this many days where he has no appetite, especially being a wolf, but he thinks he has a good excuse today, with all the butterflies in his stomach. He sits at the breakfast table, which is laid out with simple tuna porridge and kimchi— what he actually might stand a chance at being able to digest. He sets the notes down on the table next to his bowl and starts spooning the porridge into his mouth with his eyes still on the last-minute studies.

Once he’d arranged the last of the side dishes into their containers, Changmin stacks them inside a lunch bag and puts it aside. He leans over the table and snags Yunho’s notes, flipping them close. “Eat first.” He slides the notes further away when Yunho tries to grab them again. “You’ve read everything front to back at least a hundred times, hyung. Just— relax. Alright?”

"I can eat while I study," whines Yunho, but Changmin doesn't relent and points to his bowl. Changmin's right, there's no way these extra few minutes of studying is going to do anything except to maybe quell his anxiety. He scratches his head while he thinks through everything he is going to need for the day instead — he has everything, and the only thing he really needs is a lunch since they'll give him everything he needs — but why does it feel like he's forgetting something? He looks at Changmin. "Did I miss anything?"

Changmin scrunches his nose. He looks less than pleased when he taps Yunho’s bare wrist. “What do you think?”

Yunho gasps. Of all things to forget. "I can't believe I forgot!"

Changmin watches Yunho run up the stairs with a fond, exasperated smile uncurling across his face. He catches Jihye’s eyes from where she’s lounging on the couch, eating slices of raw cucumber, and bares his teeth at her when she rolls her eyes. He’s also graciously ignoring how she’s mouthing ‘_so whipped_’ at him because he doesn’t need her to give her the satisfaction of knowing she’s right on the money. He takes off his apron, ambling over to the mirror in the den to check his hair and to make sure he hadn’t spilled anything on his sweater and jeans. In the time it takes Yunho to put on his bracelet, Changmin has a cap on, with Yunho’s bag and notes already at the front door and waiting for them to go. He’s kind of regretting not going up to kiss Yunho right before they leave, but they’ll have a lot more time to do whatever they want after the CSAT is done and dusted.

Changmin _can’t wait_. 

“Hey, sorry, sorry!” Yunho flashes Changmin a smile, holding out a hand. On his upturned palm is the bracelet, polished silver gleaming under the lights. There’s a hint of red smearing the paleness of his cheeks when he says, “Put this on for me? For extra luck?” 

Yunho’s hair is slightly disarrayed from the effort of going up and down the stairs and Changmin reaches out to brush hair off of his forehead, fingertips grazing the warmth he finds there as another smile steals out of him at the sight. He picks up the proffered bracelet and steps closer, his feet nudging Yunho’s and both of their foreheads almost touching. He takes his time, thumbs stroking the soft skin on the inside of Yunho’s wrist as he closes the clasp. He runs his fingers over Yunho’s and thinks about a ring. 

So many things to look forward to in the future. 

“There, now you’re properly adorned.” Changmin laces their fingers together, somehow managing to carry everything else in his other hand as their father calls out for them from outside. Yunho’s looking back to wave at Jihye and their mother, a bright, if slightly tremulous grin carved into his reddened cheeks. Changmin tugs at him, nudging him towards the door. Yunho turns to him, the grin softening into a small, grateful smile and Changmin feels his chest tightening with the kind of affection that’s almost too much to bear. He wonders if it’s normal to be this much in love or if he’s just lucky. He squeezes Yunho’s hand, gets a crinkly-eyed laugh in return and says, “C’mon, before you’re late.”

.

Yunho is _late_.

The crowd spilling out of the school gates is a scattering of people wearing varying expressions that range from relief to outright gloomy, and Changmin’s getting secondhand anxiety just watching them listlessly make their way to wherever they’re heading. Not a scene that inspires confidence, if he’s to be honest. He had no idea how difficult the papers are this time around and when he caught up with his classmates and friends who were taking the same exams, their reactions had also been polarising. Changmin sticks his hands into the coats of his jacket, eyes trained on the gates as he waits for his mate. It’s been a colder than usual day, temperature’s dropping unexpectedly since morning and he wishes he’d worn something thicker for his vigil. It’s fortunate that there’s a cafe right across the street, where he spent the hours idly browsing through the internet, bookmarking sites to plan for their holiday trip. 

But now that he’s here, the cold comes biting back with a vengeance. Changmin shivers, shoulders hunched as he resists the urge to sneeze. 

It feels like he's waited a lifetime, but eventually, Yunho's familiar figure spills out of the building.

He looks around as he runs up, obviously looking for Changmin. As soon as he finds the younger boy, he breaks out into a wide grin and with his arms open, charges towards him at full speed, passing a number of his human classmates. "_Changmin!_" he shouts, and he barrels into the younger boy, knocking the wind out of him. 

It’s a good thing Changmin saw him coming or they would’ve both made acquaintance with the pavement. Still doesn’t account for the force of the hug (_is it still a hug when technically it felt more like a punch to his frozen lungs??_) though, so he totters for a few seconds, getting a better grip on Yunho to keep both of them upright. “You sure took your time, huh?”

"I was in such a hurry to get out, I forgot my bag in the classroom," says Yunho breathlessly. "So I had to fight against the human traffic to get it again."

Changmin laughs at that, warmer now that he has Yunho in his arms. “You okay? How was it?”

"Not bad," says Yunho, but his smile falters for a quick second. "I think it was okay, but there were a couple that I wasn't sure about, so I had to guess. But I think I knew the rest. If I didn't make any mistakes."

“Do you think you want to check your answers?” Changmin knows they’d be available online right after the exams, although he doesn’t think it would do them any good now. 

"Yeah, I want to check," says Yunho seriously. "As soon as we get home." He's dying to know if he guessed right — it didn't feel like he was going to have to stay back an extra year during the exam, but he's heard plenty of horror stories before. He doesn't think he'll be able to enjoy himself with that kind of uncertainty hanging over his head anyway. 

“Aye, aye, captain!” Changmin mock salutes, standing to attention. The effect is slightly ruined by the fact that he still has one arm around Yunho’s waist. His face soon cracks into a grin and he raises his eyebrows. “So. Now that you’re finally, entirely _mine_—” he lowers his voice to punctuate the last word, partly because they’re still in public but also an excuse to lean closer to Yunho, “—what do you wanna do first?”

Yunho brightens up again and starts to jump up and down around Changmin with his hands on Changmin's shoulders. "I want to go for dinner! I want all-you-can-eat barbecue!"

“Ooh, that’s gonna be good.” Changmin’s mouth is already watering at the thought and already, the sound of meat sizzling starts to fill his ears. There are places with promotions they can take advantage of and well, it’s about time they unwind and relax. Yunho deserves as much. He exhales slowly and places his hands on Yunho’s cheeks, so that he can look at Yunho properly when he says, “This is going to be our first official date, alright?” He smiles, feels warmth flooding into the cavity of his chest at the declaration. ”Today’s our first anniversary and we’re going to have a lot more, because we’re spending every single year of our lives together. Promise?”

It's all so overwhelming, but Yunho pulls Changmin closer and nods, feeling the flush colour his cheeks again. "I promise, if you will too."

It’s a shame he can’t kiss Yunho here, but he’s content to hold his tighter and feel the cool metal of the bracelet pressing into his skin. Changmin straightens to his full height, nudges his shoulder against Yunho to get him to start walking. “First, barbecue! And then— later tonight, maybe some dessert?” His grin grows, slanting sharper as his hand slides surreptitiously down along the length of Yunho’s back until it rests at the dip right above his ass. “Since I’ve been very good and patient?”

Yunho is _much_ too innocent for that, and as he skips in the direction of their house with Changmin's hand in his, he yells, "_Ice cream!_ I haven't had ice cream in so long!"

Changmin looks a bit disappointed, or maybe even exasperated, which he doesn't understand, because Changmin loves ice cream just as much as Yunho — maybe he's not feeling it today. But it's Yunho's day to be pampered, and he thinks he deserves to be stubborn today. "Come on. Barbecue, then chocolate ice cream."

Laughter slips through eventually and Changmin lets himself be pulled along by the current of Yunho’s happiness, as it has been and would always be. 

He doesn’t mind where they’re going, as long as they’re together.

.

**END**

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this is the end of the road, folks. thank you so much for everyone who has been here from the beginning and for those who picked this up not knowing where it's heading, but still having faith in us regardless. it's been fun and a challenge and when i asked janie if she has anything for the footnotes, this is what she has to say (verbatim, mind you):
> 
> "HELLO THIS IS IT  
WAIT FOR THE EPILOGUE  
WE MAY WRITE A SEQUEL EVENTUALLY  
BYE"
> 
> and so that's that. thanks again! and yeah, there's a short epilogue after, but that's gonna be a surprise! :D


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